Four relative unknowns who shined in U.S. Open’s first round

SAN DIEGO – So what if the TV cameras weren’t there? Someone in J.J. Henry’s group on Monday understood the magnitude of the moment. So, he pulled out his cell phone and recorded the scene as that 14-foot eagle putt slithered into the hole. After all, it’s not every day you shoot a 59. In fact, this was a first for Henry and came after he played the final six holes at the Tradition Golf Club, where Arnold Palmer often spent his winters, in a phenomenal 7 under. “I was pretty nervous,” admits Henry, who had added to the pressure back at the 16th hole when he told the other members of his foursome that a birdie-birdie-eagle finish would do the trick. “I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of things. Ryder Cups, gracious enough to win three times. But it was pretty cool to be able to make that putt. … “At 42 I guess I’ve still got it. (It’s) just matter of doing it when it counts.” Sure, it would have even better if the terrific round of 13 under had come during a PGA TOUR event. But as Henry says, there’s no bad day to shoot a 59. Henry shared the video of the final putt on Tuesday morning as he stood in the shadow of the trees beside the putting green at Torrey Pines. He’ll play in his 502nd event there this week when the Farmers Insurance Open begins on Thursday. That’s a number almost as elusive as a 59. Since Henry played in his first PGA TOUR event in 1988, with his father caddying for the son who had just finished an All-America season at TCU, only five other players have made 500 or more starts. “It’s kind of cool to see (you’re) still tackling milestones and unique things in golf,” says Henry, who joined the TOUR in 2001. “Whether it’s was to play my 500th event at the Sony Open or go out with some buddies and still feel like you can do it. … “Even though it wasn’t in a tournament something like that (59) could really jump-start things. The game’s a bunch of momentum, confidence. So regardless it was just a fun day.” By Henry’s calculations, those 502 starts have probably meant about nine years’ worth of nights spent in a hotel room. He’s averaged 27 starts a year and six times has played more than 30 tournaments, sometimes when he was fighting to keep his card. “That puts it in perspective,” he says. “I don’t know if sacrifice is the right word because we’re out here doing what we love to do. But at the same time, you’re still missing things. “You take for granted sleeping in your own bed. As you get older, I think there’s no question I think it feels more like a job than it does when you were 25 because you want to be there for your wife and your kids.” Before Henry and Lee, the college sweetheart who became his wife, had kids, the two traveled the TOUR together. Ditto for when their children, Connor and Carson, were young. But the kids are now 13 and 9, respectively. They’ve come to understand that their dad’s job sometimes will keep him away from basketball and Little League games and school plays. Thank goodness for Facetime, though. “Last Saturday I’m in a hotel (watching his son’s game),” Henry says. “Of course, my wife puts me on mute because I’m yelling ‘get the ball, be aggressive’ through the phone.” Henry tries to get home for a few days between tournaments whenever he can. After all, in 18 years on TOUR he knows the golf courses and one less practice round won’t make or break things. But there are still moments that tug at his heartstrings. “I am very grateful because my wife is so on top of things and just so great with our kids,” Henry says. “But sometimes you get that, dad, when are you coming home and what do you say? It’s hard.” On the flip side, though, if Henry plays 28 weeks a year, he has another 24 at home – to the point “where my wife is probably saying, when the hell are you going back out on the road? But you get used to that kind of lifestyle.” That’s the glass half full side of life on TOUR. Connor is starting to take a real interest in the game – as well as his dad’s career, which is proving a motivating factor. Recently, after Henry missed two straight cuts, Connor started sending texts — stay positive after a bad hole, just relax, no one can beat you, the mental game wins tournaments. “So here’s my 13-year-old, he’s like my sports psychologist,” Henry says with a grin. While Henry admits there’s “more scar tissue at 42 than 22,” he still feels his best golf is ahead of him. Sure, the game has changed. The players are younger. More fit, too. And they hit the ball a mile. But Henry has persevered. He’s won three tournaments and played on the 2006 Ryder Cup team. Yet, he’s never finished higher than 28th on the money list, and last year he squeaked into the FedExCup Playoffs at No. 125. At the same time, though, Henry only missed the Playoffs twice in the FedExCup’s first decade. He compares himself to a blue-chip stock. “It’s never crazy up or crazy down but you kind of know what you get,” Henry says. As the 500th start approached, many of Henry’s friends contacted him and told him he should appreciate what he’s accomplished. And while he’s still wrapped up in the here-and-now, the unusual longevity of his TOUR career is not lost on Henry. “To be able to play at this elite level for all these years, is something I’m pretty grateful and kind of humbled and still, honored to say,” he says. “And regardless of whatever happens in the next eight years or whether I play out here until I’m 50 and a rookie again, not many people can say they’ve played 500 TOUR events… “So as long as they keep giving me a tee time, I’ll be out here working on my three-footers.”

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To Justin Thomas, it just seemed like the least he could do. In both the pro-am on Wednesday and then again today in the opening round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Thomas played the iconic par-3 16th stadium hole at TPC Scottsdale wearing a Kobe Bryant jersey. This one wasn’t the No. 8 or 24 from Bryant’s incredible NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers, but rather the No. 33 from his time at Lower Merion High School outside Philadelphia. Just owning the jersey showed Thomas has long been a fan of the man lost to the world in tragic circumstances last Sunday.   Thomas admitted it was the first time he’d cried for a man he’d never met when news of Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people that were killed in a tragic helicopter accident broke. It was a moment that will have a lasting effect on Thomas and, perhaps, all of the PGA TOUR family. Related: Leaderboard | Amy paying it forward Thomas was already sporting Bryant tributes on his wedges, stamping “Mamba Mentalityâ€�, “Kobe Bean Bryantâ€�, “Black Mambaâ€� and “81 pointsâ€� on them. His putter cover, and that of other TOUR players this week, is purple and gold and has “RIP Kobe” and “RIP Gigi” written on it. “I’ve always been a huge fan of his. I’ve always loved watching him play, just loved hearing about his work ethic and stuff that he did on and off the court and how he just always worked harder than everybody else,” Thomas said. It’s probably the reason… I mean, obviously, he’s freakishly talented… but why he was better than everybody else because he was going to work harder to get there and just kind of will himself to be a winner. That’s something that I hope to do when I’m out there playing, when I have a chance to win the tournament, I want to have that Mamba mentality, if you will, to try to close it out.â€� When Thomas walked onto the 16th and put on the jersey, the full house was certainly appreciative of the action. In a house where commotion and booing is common, the fans celebrated the gesture in fine spirit. He was not the only one. Several stars had their own homages.   Some included Max Homa and Tony Finau, who also wore Bryant jerseys. Chants of “Kobe, Kobe, Kobeâ€� filled the air as they noticed Finau also had purple and gold shoes. It continued with Bud Cauley and Gary Woodland donning their Scotty Cameron putter covers, along with Bryson DeChambeau, who had written ‘8’ and ’24’ on his shoes. TaylorMade staffers also had 24 on their golf balls. Finau was on course last Sunday at the Farmers Insurance Open when the news broke. He and fellow Nike athlete Tiger Woods were both clearly emotional when they were told. Finau has long made it known he was a Bryant fan. He couldn’t help but return to the feelings he felt when he lost his own mother in a tragic car accident in 2011. Finau’s manager, another huge Lakers fan, drove from Los Angeles to San Diego when the news broke to be there for Finau as he finished. “That will probably give you an idea of how much an impact Kobe was in my life just as a sports junkie. I’m a huge fan of basketball, the NBA and the Lakers, and in huge part because of Kobe Bryant,â€� Finau said last Sunday. “He was a star… His work ethic is something that will be talked about, that’s what his legacy is. I remember actually wearing his shoes out here in 2016 just giving him props for the Mamba mentality and kind of what he taught a lot of athletes in pursuing your dreams. His legacy for sure is one of hard work and commitment to your craft. That’s Kobe Bryant.â€� Finau vowed to try to live up to the work ethic he so admired in Bryant. “The way to live a life that respects Kobe and that he would respect is one to have the Mamba mentality,â€� he continued. “Maybe that’s something that I need, work even harder at your craft and have more love for your craft and maybe that’s something that we all need as athletes, to have that Mamba mentality.â€� The accident was also a stark reminder of how precious, and sometimes fleeting, life can be. Gary Woodland certainly took that message from the terrible news. Woodland was a college basketball player before golf became his full focus, and as such, was intimately in tune with Bryant’s career on the court. He also enjoys the Mamba mentality and can recite most of Bryant’s records and stats. But it is Bryant’s life after the NBA that has Woodland most in awe. Bryant, the father of four girls, was the man Woodland was keeping tabs on. He has some experience in losing a child, like Vanessa Bryant is facing now. Woodland’s two-year-old son Jaxson was due to be one of twins before Gary and his wife Gabby lost the other baby during a troubled pregnancy. Since then, they have welcomed twin girls into the family, born last year. Woodland was so affected by the news that he took Jaxson to the course for the first time while he practiced earlier this week. He was all of a sudden mindful of creating memories with his growing toddler and making every moment count. “The biggest tribute is trying to imitate Kobe in the way to be a father like he was and work hard every day because you never know when it’s taken away from you, so you can’t take any day for granted on and off the golf course,â€� Woodland said pre-tournament. “When you see him with his children, he looked like he was happy, he was smiling all the time, laughing, when he was coaching her. That’s the love and energy that I want to have and it makes me sad that him and his daughter and seven other people’s lives were taken away way too soon. I want to be there for my kids and not have to miss anything, because you never know.â€� What we do know is we all need to treat life like the gift it is because the reminders will keep coming. Bryant wouldn’t want it any other way.

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Troy Merritt aced the 219-yard 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club and shot a 5-under 67 on Saturday for a share of the lead with Joaquin Niemann in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Michigan.

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