Russell Henley named three bucket list items. He hopes to knock one off this week

Before he dies, Macon native Russell Henley wants to win The Masters.

Alongside skydiving and visiting Italy, Henley listed “winning the Masters” as an item on his bucket list. Could this be the year he crosses The Masters off his list?

Henley returns to The Masters for the fifth time in his pro career this week looking to improve on what was the best-ever finish of his career last year.

Henley tied for 11th in 2017, one decade after he graduated from Stratford High School in Macon. Even though he had qualified for the tournament at the last minute, Henley’s showing a year ago was his best in four tries at The Masters. It also guaranteed him a spot in this year’s tournament.

Now, Henley will play The Masters again, hoping to, at the least, finish in the top-10 at a major for the first time.

“I’ve been playing well, had a good year last year and I feel like I know the golf course well,” Henley said Monday.

Indeed, Henley, who will tee off at 12:32 p.m. on Thursday in a group with Larry Mize and Shubhankar Sharma, played his best golf last season. He won the Shell Houston Open on April 2, 2017, for the third PGA Tour victory of his career. A week later, he played in The Masters. Then he tied for fifth at the Greenbrier Classic and tied for third at the Tour Championship. He finished the year a career-best 13th in the FedExCup standings.

Henley, who was the nation’s top-ranked collegiate player in 2009-10 at Georgia, has improved every time he has played at The Masters. He missed the cut his first year on tour in 2013, then tied for 31st a year later. In 2015, Henley placed 21st. He didn’t qualify for the tournament in 2016, but then came last year’s performance.

Playing on Sunday, Henley damaged the cup on the fifth hole when he dropped a shot straight into the cup from 185 yards away to eagle the hole. He finished the final round three-under par.

Henley hasn’t played as well in the lead-up to this Masters, but is coming off of an eighth-place finish at the Houston Open Sunday.

Henley, who practiced on Monday but did not on Tuesday, knows the challenge that lies ahead as he stands in the midst of a stacked field. Still, he expects to play on Sunday.

“Just got to stay patient in these tournaments,” Henley said. “This golf course is going to be difficult. Seventy-two holes is a lot of golf.”

This story was originally published April 3, 2018 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Russell Henley named three bucket list items. He hopes to knock one off this week."