PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico (AP) — Russell Henley finally made a bogey, and that is about all that went unsuitable for him Sunday as he closed with a 1-under 70 for a four-shot victory within the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
Henley, staked to a six-shot lead going into the ultimate round at El Camaleon, had the lead reduced to a few when he missed a 5-foot par putt on the par-5 fifth hole.
He responded with three straight birdies, and nobody got closer than 4 shots the remainder of the way in which.
Henley won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour, and the primary time because the Houston Open five years ago.
The previous five times Henley had at the very least a share of the 54-hole lead, he didn’t convert the victory. Probably the most recent was the Sony Open in January, when Hideki Matsuyama made up a two-shot deficit and beat him in a playoff.
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“I just tried to learn from my past and my screw-ups,” Henley said with a smile. “All those events I didn’t close out, they hurt. You never know should you’ll win one other. To return down 18 with a four-shot lead was really cool.”
Henley finished at 23-under 261 to tie the tournament record. He got here into the ultimate round because the only player who had not made a bogey all week.
Brian Harman closed with a 66 to complete alone in second, while the group five shots behind included Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Seamus Power of Ireland, who was coming off a victory last week in Bermuda.
Scheffler lost the No. 1 rating he had held since March when Rory McIlroy won the CJ Cup two weeks ago. Scheffler closed with a 62 at Mayakoba, leaving him a very good likelihood to reclaim the No. 1 rating next week on the Houston Open.
McIlroy will not be playing again until the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Power shot a 68, and his tie for third with Scheffler, Joel Dahmen, Troy Merritt and Will Gordon put the Irishman atop the FedEx Cup standings and moved him to No. 29 on the planet, his highest rating ever.
Henley moved to No. 33 on the planet and is assured of returning to the Masters. Last time, he didn’t secure a spot at Augusta National until moving into the highest 50 every week before the Masters.
Henley lost three-shot leads on the Wyndham Championship in 2021 and the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek in 2020. The opposite times he was either tied or led by one or two shots, which will not be much of a lead on the PGA Tour.
This was a six-shot margin, and it’s rare for somebody to not win from there. That did not make it any easier.
“It’s tough. I do not sleep well on a lead. I would like rather a lot more practice,” Henley said. “I don’t know how Tiger did this 80-some times. It’s tough for me simply to sort of calm down. You actually do not feel similar to if you’re practicing at home, but that is the fun of it. That is why we play.
“We would like to see what we’re product of out here and get tested under pressure.”
The victory also sends Henley to Kapalua in January for the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the primary elevated event in a recent 12 months of massive purses.
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