SPONSORED BY ATTORNEY DAN NEWLIN. THE BACK NINE AT BAY HILL WAS THE DIFFERENCE MAKER TODAY AT THE ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL. HEY, EVERYBODY. I’M KRISTEN LAGO SUNDAY AT THE KINGS TOURNAMENT. SAW FIRST TIME WINNER AT BAY HILL. RUSSELL HENLEY, THE LAST MAN STANDING ON THE GREEN. BUT IT WAS COLLIN MORIKAWA WHO WAS LEADING THE CHARGE AFTER MOVING DAY. HE HAD A ONE STROKE LEAD OVER THE REST OF THE FIELD AND WAS IN CONTROL TO START TODAY. FANTASTIC SHOT FROM THE BUNKER HERE ON ONE THAT WILL ROLL IN FOR BIRDIE. CROWD IS LOVING IT. AND SO WAS COLLIN. NO ONE THOUGH HAD A BETTER FRONT NINE THAN KEEGAN. BRADLEY SHOT A COURSE RECORD 29 THERE BUT MISSED THE EAGLE ON 16 TO FINISH TIED FOR FIFTH. SAME HOLE. HERE COMES RUSSELL HENLEY. HOLES IT IN FOR EAGLE. TAKES THE OUTRIGHT LEAD WITH THAT SHOT RIGHT THERE. MORIKAWA THOUGH WAS STILL HAD A FIGHTING CHANCE ON 18. HE WILL MISS THE BIRDIE PUTT. DIDN’T FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT AS SOON AS HE HIT IT. THIS, THOUGH PAVES THE WAY FOR HENLEY PAR PUTT TO WIN IT. OUR SPORTS DIRECTOR DAREN STOLZFUS BRINGS US MORE ON A WILD TURN OF EVENTS AT ARNIE’S PLACE. WELL, THE LAST ROUND OF THE KINGS TOURNAMENT NEVER DISAPPOINTS. COLLIN MORIKAWA COMING INTO SUNDAY, SAID HE HAD A STRESS FREE SATURDAY. THAT WAS NOT THE CASE IN THE FINAL ROUND. RUSSELL HENLEY TAKING CONTROL WITH AN EAGLE ON 16 AND THEN KNOCKING DOWN A PRESSURE PACKED PUTT FOR THE BIGGEST WIN OF HIS CAREER TO WIN MR. PALMER’S TOURNAMENT. YOU KNOW, WATCHED IT SO MANY TIMES. COME DOWN THE 18TH HOLE AND IT’S JUST REALLY SPECIAL TO WIN A TOURNAMENT THAT I’VE WATCHED MY MY JUNIOR CAREER, YOU KNOW, AND WATCH IT FOR SO MANY YEARS. IT’S JUST IT’S REALLY COOL. THAT’S THE COOL THING ABOUT GOLF. YOU KNOW, YOU GO TO THESE COURSES WHERE THE GREATEST IN THE GAME HAVE PLAYED AND TO GET TO GET A WIN ON ONE OF THEM, IT’S JUST IT’S AMAZING TO MAKE THIS WIN EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT. FOR RUSSELL. IT KIND OF TAKES HIM BACK AFTER HE WON HIS FIRST PRO TOURNAMENT. ARNOLD PALMER HIMSELF WROTE HIM A LETTER OF ENCOURAGEMENT. HE SAID SEEING THAT SIGNATURE AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT LETTER WAS HUGE. NOW HE’S GOING TO LEAVE BAY HILL WITH A TROPHY IN THAT SAME SIGNATURE IMPRINTED ON IT. TALK ABOUT A BIG WEEKEND AT BAY
Russell Henley with a late charge and a big eagle wins Bay Hill for biggest career win
Updated: 10:32 PM EDT Mar 9, 2025
Russell Henley delivered a late charge that would have made Arnold Palmer proud, capped off by chipping in for eagle on the 16th hole to rally with a 2-under 70 at Bay Hill on Sunday for the biggest victory of his career.Henley trailed Collin Morikawa by three shots with five holes to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational when it all changed with a pair of two-shot swings.Morikawa missed the green on the par-3 14th hole and took bogey, while Henley hit his tee shot to just inside 10 feet for birdie, cutting the deficit to one shot. Nothing was more stunning than the par-5 16th hole, however.Morikawa laid up from a fairway bunker and hit wedge to 18 feet. Henley went through the green to thick rough and had to chip from more than 50 feet away down the slope to a front pin on a green that was yellow, looking as though it barely had any grass.It was racing toward the hole when it smacked into the pin and dropped for eagle, giving him the lead for the first time all day when Morikawa failed to convert his birdie putt.Henley finished with two pars and Morikawa, who closed with a 72, couldn’t catch him.“I was just so nervous. I can’t breathe right now,” Henley told NBC off the 18th green. “It’s so hard and difficult around this place. I just tried to stay really tough this week.”He made it tough on himself at times, particularly when he made a mess of both par 5s on the front nine to take bogey on each of them, and then starting the back nine with a bogey from the fairway.But the 35-year-old from Georgia made up for it in a big way, particularly the chip-in for eagle that he called a good break. It’s likely the ball would have run some 10 feet by the hole, if not run off the green. Breaks like that are what wins tournaments.“This game is just so hard,” he said.It was another close call for Morikawa, the two-time major champion whose game is back in order and now is missing only a trophy that he hasn’t hoisted in 17 months.He began by holing a bunker shot for birdie on the first hole. He was in the lead all day, in control all day, in what had been a sleepy final round on a brutal test of fast, firm conditions.And then suddenly he wasn’t.“Hats off to Collin. He played super steady,” Henley said. “Sometimes golf is just mean like that.”Corey Conners opened with 15 straight pars, made one birdie in his round of 71, and finished two shots behind. The consolation prize for the Canadian was earning the one spot available this week in the British Open this summer at Royal Portrush.Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley set a tournament record with a 29 on the front nine, only to stall and match the tournament-low 64 to tie for fifth.Defending champion Scottie Scheffler didn’t make enough putts or enough birdies for the week. He closed with a 70 and tied for 11th. Scheffler now heads two hours up the road to the TPC Sawgrass as the two-time defending champion at The Players Championship.Henley finished at 11-under 277 and earned $4 million from the $20 million purse. It was his fifth career win on the PGA Tour, though never against a field this strong. He was more than up to the task as his game has become consistently good over the last three years.The victory moves him to No. 7 in the world, and he looks the part of a top-10 player.
ORLANDO, Fla. —Russell Henley delivered a late charge that would have made Arnold Palmer proud, capped off by chipping in for eagle on the 16th hole to rally with a 2-under 70 at Bay Hill on Sunday for the biggest victory of his career.
Henley trailed Collin Morikawa by three shots with five holes to play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational when it all changed with a pair of two-shot swings.
Morikawa missed the green on the par-3 14th hole and took bogey, while Henley hit his tee shot to just inside 10 feet for birdie, cutting the deficit to one shot. Nothing was more stunning than the par-5 16th hole, however.
Morikawa laid up from a fairway bunker and hit wedge to 18 feet. Henley went through the green to thick rough and had to chip from more than 50 feet away down the slope to a front pin on a green that was yellow, looking as though it barely had any grass.
It was racing toward the hole when it smacked into the pin and dropped for eagle, giving him the lead for the first time all day when Morikawa failed to convert his birdie putt.
Henley finished with two pars and Morikawa, who closed with a 72, couldn’t catch him.
“I was just so nervous. I can’t breathe right now,” Henley told NBC off the 18th green. “It’s so hard and difficult around this place. I just tried to stay really tough this week.”
He made it tough on himself at times, particularly when he made a mess of both par 5s on the front nine to take bogey on each of them, and then starting the back nine with a bogey from the fairway.
But the 35-year-old from Georgia made up for it in a big way, particularly the chip-in for eagle that he called a good break. It’s likely the ball would have run some 10 feet by the hole, if not run off the green. Breaks like that are what wins tournaments.
“This game is just so hard,” he said.
It was another close call for Morikawa, the two-time major champion whose game is back in order and now is missing only a trophy that he hasn’t hoisted in 17 months.
He began by holing a bunker shot for birdie on the first hole. He was in the lead all day, in control all day, in what had been a sleepy final round on a brutal test of fast, firm conditions.
And then suddenly he wasn’t.
“Hats off to Collin. He played super steady,” Henley said. “Sometimes golf is just mean like that.”
Corey Conners opened with 15 straight pars, made one birdie in his round of 71, and finished two shots behind. The consolation prize for the Canadian was earning the one spot available this week in the British Open this summer at Royal Portrush.
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley set a tournament record with a 29 on the front nine, only to stall and match the tournament-low 64 to tie for fifth.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler didn’t make enough putts or enough birdies for the week. He closed with a 70 and tied for 11th. Scheffler now heads two hours up the road to the TPC Sawgrass as the two-time defending champion at The Players Championship.
Henley finished at 11-under 277 and earned $4 million from the $20 million purse. It was his fifth career win on the PGA Tour, though never against a field this strong. He was more than up to the task as his game has become consistently good over the last three years.
The victory moves him to No. 7 in the world, and he looks the part of a top-10 player.
