ORLANDO — Russell Henley barely cracked a smile. Some $4 million richer and in possession of his biggest tournament title, he seemed incapable of grasping the moment on Sunday at the Bay Hill Club.

A tournament that appeared Collin Morikawa’s for a majority of the afternoon all of a sudden was Henley’s, a bizarre ending at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I’m just in shock,” said Henley, 35, the former University of Georgia golfer who had not won in more than two years. “I didn’t even know I was in the tournament until I birdied the 14th. Collin didn’t seem to make any mistakes.”

Morikawa made two back-nine bogeys but still led by a stroke with three holes to play and did nothing egregious over the closing holes. It was Henley who chipped for an unlikely eagle at the 16th from 55 feet, flipping a one-stroke deficit into a one-shot lead.

That proved to be the difference as both players parred the final two holes.

Morikawa, obviously stunned in the aftermath, did not stop to talk about it afterward. The runner-up finish was another in a growing number of tough defeats as the two-time major champion has had some close calls since his last win, which came at the 2023 Zozo Championship, including playing in the last group at the Masters last year with Scottie Scheffler and also contending at the PGA Championship.

Now ranked No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Morikawa has the distinction of being the only player to win two different major championships in his first two starts at that event—the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 British Open.

But the six-time PGA Tour winner has some rough endings that can add to the frustration.

He let a five-shot lead get away during the final round of the 2021 Hero World Challenge when a victory would have moved him to No. 1 in the world.

He led the Sentry by six shots during the final round in 2023, only to see Jon Rahm win.

While Sunday’s defeat didn’t see him let go of a big lead, he did have a three-shot advantage with five holes to play. And Morikawa appeared in control, despite some early misfires with his irons. On the very first hole, he missed the green in a bunker, then holed it for a birdie.

He still led by two going to the 14th hole, but a bogey coupled with Henley’s birdie cut it to one shot—the first time Henley thought he had a chance.

 “It’s still surreal wearing this thing up here,” said Henley, referencing the cardigan sweater given to the winner in honor of the late Arnold Palmer. “I’ve tried to just work really hard in all aspects of my game to try to put myself in position to win tournaments and compete at the highest possible level on the biggest and best courses, and just crazy that it happened like that. It’s just hard to take in. I can’t explain it.

“Also, just the pressure of knowing that Collin was going to play so steady and knowing that I had to play steady. It almost made me kind of realize it was just so far from over, knowing that I knew he was going to hit great shots coming down the last two holes as well. So just tremendously hard to win out here.”

Henley already has four top-10 finishes this year following a strong 2024 season that saw him get picked by Jim Furyk for the 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup team, where he went 3-1 and proved to be a good partner for Scottie Scheffler.

That experience, he said, was a big confidence booster for him.

“It helped me a lot,” he said. “Just being on the team with these guys, Collin, Scottie, Xander (Schauffele), Patrick (Cantlay), these guys who I’ve just literally watched YouTube videos of different parts of their game and watch them practice and try to get better and learn from what they’re doing, how they’re handling themselves, because they’re beating me. To be on their team and ... I really felt like they wanted me to be on the team. It gave me confidence in my game and just to keep doing what I was doing.

“I’ve asked some of those guys for advice since then, and they have been really kind to give it to me. Just kind of a cool little family to be a part of.”

Henley, who tied for sixth last week at the Cognizant Classic, was seventh in U.S. Ryder Cup points heading into the Arnold Palmer Invitational and is now in an excellent position to secure one of the six automatic spots on the team that will play against Europe in September.

Given his Scheffler partnership, he might be a logical pick for captain Keegan Bradley anyway.

And there are not too many top-10 players in the world who get left out of the Ryder Cup.

Henley is now ranked seventh, the highest of his career.

“I don’t really feel like a top-10 player,” he said. “I just have so much respect for this game and all these amazing players, and it’s so difficult to even put yourself in the position to try to win a golf tournament in these, on the PGA Tour.

“I definitely don’t feel like it. I mean, I guess the rankings would tell you that, but I have so much respect for so many players out here who are all so talented, and so it’s hard for me to kind of comprehend that.”

Just like his victory.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Surprising Finish at Bay Hill Leaves Russell Henley Shocked, Collin Morikawa Stunned.