Russell Henley busted out of the pack by posting a spectacular 7-under 65 on Sunday to charge up the leaderboard and come away with the victory in the Shell Houston Open. It is Henley’s third career win on the PGA Tour. His previous triumphs happened at the Sony Open in 2013 and at the Honda Classic in 2014. The native of Macon, GA, recorded 10 birdies in the final round at the Golf Club of Houston to race past third round leader Sung Kang of South Korea, who he trailed by four strokes starting the day, to lay claim to the title. His double-digit tally in birdies helped him easily overcome a double-bogey at the par 3 ninth hole and a whatever bogey at No.
18.
After making pars-only
Kang couldn’t match Henley’s phenomenal touch on the greens as he slipped into a solo second finish after making pars-only on the back nine. Henley ended up at 20-under 268 to capture the three-shot win and now heads for the first Major of the year at The Masters in his home state of Georgia. Henley’s best finish at Augusta National was a 21st performance in 2015 when Jordan Spieth won the green jacket. Third place in Houston was shared by Americans Luke List and Rickie Fowler. List shrugged off bogeys at No. 2 and No. 11 to scribble six birdies total on his card and finish with a stellar 4-under 68 for the day.
Stumbled out of the gate
Fowler stumbled out of the gate when he made a double bogey at No.
2 and a bogey on the par 5 fourth hole. He did get squared away down the stretch by making five birdies over the last 11 holes to finish at 16-under 272 and head for Augusta with some confidence as he searches for his first Major victory. Fowler’s top result in The Masters was a T5 in 2014 when Bubba Watson won for the second time.
The top five at the Shell Houston Open was rounded out by Daniel Berger of the U.S. The young gun cobbled together a superb 5-under 67 to close with a total of 13-under 275. Berger came close to tracking down Fowler and List, but he butchered the last hole with a double bogey after making birdies at Nos. 12, 14, 15, and 17.
