Russell Henley surprised the public with a great performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and at the same time with a victory in fierce competition. Although few expected this experienced golfer to win in competition with such big names, Henley showed character and fought until the very end. Henley chipped in for eagle with two holes to go and beat Collin Morikawa, surprising everyone.
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Henley had only words of praise for his opponent after the magnificent win, but he could not hide his delight with a superb two-under-par round, closing on 11-under par, with Morikawa one shot behind.
The 35-years-old admitted that he was nervous, especially because of the difficulty of the course.
"Hats off to Collin, he played great, super-steady, but sometimes golf is just mean like that," Henley said, as quoted by BBC.
"I was so nervous, so unbelievably nervous. I can't breathe right now. It's so hard and so difficult around this place."
Russell Henley: I've watched Tiger Woods make a lot of putts on this green
The American golfer knew how huge opportunity was in front of him, giving it his all to truly 'grab' the maximum prize. Russell looked back at the stars of the golf scene, saying he had previously watched many of them, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, do great things on this course.
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He is happy to have done the same and joined such company.
"I just tried to stay really tough. I've watched Tiger [Woods] make a lot of putts on this green. I've watched Rory [McIlroy], Fran [Francesco Molinari] and Bryson [DeChambeau] make winning putts here, and it's cool to know I did it too."- he concluded.
This is the fifth victory for the 35-year-old, who will get an even stronger motivation to continue in the same rhythm and try to win another title.
Unlike him who impressed, there are many who were disappointed in this tournament, but it seems that this kind of competition is much more interesting when unexpected things happen.
