Young rivals think highly of Henley’s chances
AUGUSTA -- Russell Henley can’t compete in his first Masters for at least one more year, and there’s no guarantee the Macon native will play in the tournament any time soon.
But three players competing in this year’s Masters don’t believe it will be long before the current Georgia senior tees it up at the game’s highest level.
“Absolutely, Russ is going to be out here real soon,” said Stanford junior David Chung, who competed on the Palmer Cup team with Henley and qualified for this year’s Masters by finishing second at the U.S. Amateur. “You’re talking about one of the best amateurs in the world. He has the complete game and I think the right temperament to make it out here. Everyone saw what he did at Pebble Beach, and then the world knew what all of the college golfers already knew. He’s going to make it fine.”
Oklahoma State junior Peter Uihlein, who qualified for the Masters by beating Chung in the U.S. Amateur final, also believes Henley is equipped to find early success when he turns pro.
“He is a great golfer, very strong mentally and has a great short game,” Uihlein said. “I think he (could be out on the PGA Tour) soon.”
Henley is nearly through with his senior season at Georgia. The Bulldogs will try to defend their SEC championship beginning April 15 in St. Simons Island. After that, Henley has just the NCAA regional and the NCAA championship left to play in his collegiate career.
Already one of the top amateurs in the world, Henley jumped on the national spotlight with a tremendous 2010 season. He won the SEC championship and the NCAA South Central Regional. He won the Fred Haskins Award as the nation’s top college golfer and finished the season as Golfweek’s National Player of the Year.
Henley’s career really took off when he won a sectional qualifier for the U.S. Open, and he then finished tied for 16th at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links. He also helped lead the United States to a win in the Palmer Cup.
Henley is currently ranked 12th in the Royal & Ancient’s World Amateur Golf Rankings and third overall in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings. He’s behind only Chung and Uihlein in the Scratch Players Rankings.
Henley plans to compete for the NCAA championship before making another run at qualifying for the U.S. Open, which will be held this summer at Congressional near Washington, D.C. After that, he wants to chase that elusive U.S. Amateur championship -- he has never advanced into the 64-player match play portion of the tournament -- which could earn him a ticket to Augusta next year with a top-two finish. Henley would seem to be a near-lock for the Walker Cup team -- amateur golf’s version of the Ryder Cup -- as one of the top players in the world. Henley said playing in the Walker Cup is a dream of his, and that he would turn professional after that tournament, and possibly enter qualifying school late in the year.
Plenty of players have turned professional after the Walker Cup, but few have seen the instant success of Rickie Fowler.
Fowler, a former Oklahoma State standout who entered college the same year as Henley, left school after leading the U.S. to a win in the 2009 Walker Cup. He earned his PGA Tour card through the tour’s qualifying school in his first try and had a tremendous rookie season on tour. He had seven top-10 finishes, made the Ryder Cup team and won the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year award.
“(Henley was) definitely one of the top college players when I was (at Oklahoma State), and I know he’s still playing well,” Fowler said. “(Getting through Q-school and having immediate success on tour is) tough to do, but if you get some confidence playing well, going into some PGA Tour events and then Q-school it makes things a lot easier. So it’s doable, but it is tough.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Young rivals think highly of Henley’s chances."