Henley's roller coaster year of emotions marked by father's death and his 1st Presidents Cup team

MONTREAL (AP) — Russell Henley, who won a Nationwide Tour event while still at Georgia and won the Sony Open in his first start as a PGA Tour member, is finally playing in his first U.S. team competition.

It's been a year mixed with success and sadness. Henley revealed at the Presidents Cup that his father, Dr. Chapin Henley of Macon, Georgia, died the week after the British Open.

Henley said his father died of leukemia and heart failure.

“He was battling the last couple of years, so I don't know if I've just gotten used to being sad about it. It's been a battle,” Henley said. “He loved watching me play. He's been watching me play until he couldn't watch anymore because he was just too sick. But he was there.”

Henley had his best finish at the British Open, closing with a 66-69 on the weekend to finish fifth. There was some debate about even going to Royal Troon because of his father's health.

“We were trying to get him squared away, and he was struggling and fighting, and he just said, ‘You’re going to The Open.' He was set on it,” Henley said. “He was an extremely tough man, and I miss him a lot, but it’s been a roller coaster year. It definitely is just hard in general, but I think he would want this for me.”

Chapin Henley, who was 85, graduated from Vanderbilt, then the Seminary at Emory University and then the University of Florida Medical School. He was an obstetrician gynecologist who delivered more than 5,000 babies and later founded Macon Volunteer Clinic to offer free healthcare to the uninsured.

That led his son to start the Chapin Henley M.D. Scholarship Fund in the spring, offering scholarships to employees and their dependents at Idle Hour Club, where Henley grew up playing golf.

“This scholarship is a tribute to my dad, Chapin Henley, who has always been an inspiration to me. Against the odds, he worked hard and became a doctor. He really cared about his patients, often treating people who couldn’t pay him," Henley wrote for the fund's website.

"Through this fund, I hope to give back to others like my dad has. I want this scholarship to help people who are trying to better themselves.”

A few good breaks

Scottie Scheffler doesn't think 2024 was that much different from recent years except for the number of trophies he won — seven on the PGA Tour, and most since Tiger Woods in 2007, and an Olympic gold medal.

But if not for a putt here and there, a hole-out from the fairway, someone else's misfortune, it might not have looked as gaudy.

“I’ve had years in the past on tour where I’ve played pretty nice and I haven’t been able to win a bunch,” Scheffler said at the Presidents Cup. “Sometimes in this game, the breaks go your way and sometimes they don't.”

He mentioned Tom Kim making bogey in the playoff at the Travelers. Scheffler made a 5-foot par putt on the 18th to win the Memorial, and a putt from about that range for his gold medal. His rally at The Players Championship included a wedge he holed out for eagle.

He also recalls Sam Burns making a 40-footer to beat him at Colonial in 2023. That was the year he didn't make anything at Memorial and missed a playoff by one shot.

“Sometimes it’s an important putt or a little break here or there, and a lot of times this year I felt like I made the putts when I really needed to,” Scheffler said.

Caddie loyalty

It's no longer unusual at the Ryder Cup when an American caddie is working for a European (Joe Skovron for Ludvig Aberg, Duane Bock for Sepp Straka) or the other way around (Ricky Elliott of Northern Ireland for Brooks Koepka).

The Presidents Cup has Scott Vail of Canada working on home soil for Keegan Bradley, who doesn't see that as a problem in the least.

“Scottie is a very proud Canadian,” Bradley said. “He’s got two passports. He’s also American. Scottie is, first and foremost, a really proud Canadian, and I love that about him. He’s lived in Toronto his whole life basically. But he’s on our side this week. He’s made that very clear.”

Just as Vail is focused on the American team, Bradley is focused on the Presidents Cup. He's the first player to be an active Ryder Cup captain.

That doesn't appear to be an issue.

“It's funny, I played with him yesterday and I forgot he was even going to be a captain next year,” Tony Finau said Wednesday. “I think we’re all looking at him this week as a player, and he is. He’s playing great golf. We need him on our team. He’s hopefully going to help us win the cup this week.”

Partnerships

Adam Scott will get his 17th partner on Thursday when he plays with Min Woo Lee in fourballs against Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala.

U.S. captain Jim Furyk is sending out five partnerships that have never played together in team matches. Two of them, Theegala and Russell Henley, are playing for a U.S. team as pros for the first time. Henley is with Scheffler.

Bradley is playing with Wyndham Clark, who was still in college when Bradley last played in a team competition in 2014.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press