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Think Young, Play Hard: Scott Langley

Ron Kaspriske — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A voice of the rookies, who's off to a fast start.

Make way for Russell Henley, golf's newest star

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 02:56:00 GMT

Russell Henley's dream foursome, if we are to take him at his word, would include Kid Rock, Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and Andres Gonzales, a PGA Tour player who bills himself as "half man, half amazing."

(Photo: Christian Petersen/Getty Images

More likely, his was a cheeky response (what, no Nicklaus, Palmer and Woods?), but one that hints at a tour rookie for whom convention is to be bucked. Hinting at that as well and in a more emphatic manner is that he won the first full-field event of the PGA Tour season, the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday in his first start as a member of the tour.

Gone, apparently, are the days when tour rookies audacious enough to appear on a leaderboard, with a few notable exceptions, would still respect the game enough to finish fifth or worse. Among the exceptions were Tiger and Rory. Henley is identifiable neither by his first name, nor his last. Yet.

Henley, 23, played Waialae Country Club in Honolulu last week as though he were enjoying casual rounds with friends at home, posting scores of 63, 63, 67 and 63 and winning three ways and all presses, or 1,008,000 PGA Tour dollars.

Henley's performance was either a warning shot of his impending stardom or a sign of changing times, maybe both. Rookies today, the best among them, at any rate, seem to arrive on tour in possession of advanced degrees in competitive golf and wholly unafraid to impose their will on a golf establishment powerless to stop it.

Their growing pains are behind them, endured in college or on lesser tours, and they arrive ready to succeed and disinclined to fail, even when circumstances suggest that that is the more likely option, as it would be in contention on Sunday afternoon. Instead, Henley birdied his final five holes.

"He might be a star right out of the blocks," Golf Channel's Johnny Miller said after Henley holed yet another putt, a nine-footer to save par on the 12th hole. "His game right now, there might be just a handful of guys playing better in the whole world than he is."

Henley, 23, was likely to move into the top 50 in the World Ranking with this victory, his third in his last four stars, his other two coming near the end of the Web.com Tour season last year. He also won a Web.com Tour event as an amateur the year before, and in 2010, he and Scott Langley were low amateurs in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, tying for 16th.

Related: A beginner's guide to golf

So maybe we should not be surprised with this tour rookie standing out in his debut as a member, but there was another right there with him. Langley, 23, a friend and playing partner in each of the four rounds at Waialae, shot a 62 in his debut as a tour member, the best round of the week, and hung near the lead into the back nine on Sunday.

A year ago, they were playing in a Hooters Tour event together, Henley missing the cut and Langley making it on the number. "We are on the range, trying to help each other find it," Langley recalled.

On Thursday, they were walking toward the 16th green at Waialae together. "You could see the ocean behind it, PGA Tour signs everywhere," Langley said. "We looked at each other and realized this is pretty cool."

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PGA Tour Sleepers To Watch In 2013

Alex Myers — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:45:00 GMT

Our bold list of 13 lesser-known PGA Tour players we expect big things from in 2013.

Walker Cup wait for Peterson, Langley

Ryan Herrington — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:44:00 GMT

ERIN, Wis.—John Peterson and Scott Langley have spent an entire summer waiting for a call from the USGA telling them they'd earned a spot on the 2011 U.S. Walker Cup team. The next two days,...

A little bit of the unusual at Erin Hills

Ryan Herrington — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:36:00 GMT

ERIN, Wis.—A little bit of everything seemed to take place Wednesday at Erin Hills, in a slightly twisted sort of way. Fog delay? Check. USGA scoring record? Check. Two-hour, 20-man, three-hole playoff? Check. 6:54 p.m....

Assessing the amateurs' chances at Congressional

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:24:00 GMT

BETHESDA, Md. -- Recent Georgia graduate Russell Henley has had an eventful spring, becoming only the second amateur to win a Nationwide Tour event in April and leading the Bulldogs to the finals of the NCAA Championship earlier this month. The 22-year-old from Macon, Ga., however, has a chance to accomplish something else that only two other amateur golfers have done since World War II.

Claim low amateur honors at consecutive U.S. Opens.

Henley tied with Illinois' Scott Langley for 16th at Pebble Beach a year ago. If he could repeat the feat this year at Congressional CC he would join Jack Nicklaus (1960 & 1961) and Phil Mickelson (1990 & 1991) as back-to-back low-amateur honorees.

An amateur playing on the weekend at the U.S. Open has become a relatively frequent occurrence. At least one amateur has made the cut in the major in 11 of the last 13 years and 23 of the last 31 years. Two or more amateurs have made the cut six of the past eight years.

Men's Top 50 college players to watch

Ryan Herrington — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Golf World's annual preseason preview of the top 50 college players to watch is below. The Top 10 golfers are ranked in order with the other 40 listed alphabetically....

USA men's World Amateur team selected

Ryan Herrington — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:19:00 GMT

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASH.--USA World Amateur Team captain Fred RIdley will have a trio of collegiate golfers on top of their games at the ready when the American squad heads to Argentina in October to compete...

Chung continues winning ways

Ryan Herrington — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 02:02:00 GMT

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASH.--David Chung could get used to this winning thing. Actually, from the looks of it he already has. Having claimed the Porter Cup and Western Amateur titles in the last five weeks, the...

Langley wins wild second-round match

Ryan Herrington — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:48:00 GMT

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WASH.--You often see some see-saw matches at the U.S. Amateur Championship, but you won't find too many like the second-round tilt between Scott Langley and Patrick Reed at Chambers Bay GC Thursday morning....