How the Internationals can turn big loss into a big gain

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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