Scott narrowly earns U.S. Open berth in qualifier

George Walter Henry, Jr., began his athletic career as a football player, first in his hometown of Valdosta, Georgia, and then at Georgia Tech, in Atlanta, where he earned three Yellow Jackets letters, starting in 1964. On the football field, everybody knew Henry as “Bunky,� a childhood nickname bestowed on him by his grandmother. He was also “Bunky� on the golf course, and it turned out that’s where he would make a name for himself first as a college golfer and noted amateur and then as a professional, capturing one PGA TOUR title along the way. The two-sport athlete died August 17 from complications during heart surgery. He was 74. Born February 8, 1944 in Valdosta, Henry made 73 of 75 extra-point attempts during his Georgia Tech career, including 50 consecutively, which, at the time, was an NCAA record. He led the Yellow Jackets in scoring in 1965, with 27 PATs and five field goals. Once comparing his play on the field vs. what he faced on the fairway, Henry said, “On a golf course, the pressure lasts four hours. It’s only 10 seconds for someone kicking a football.� Henry apparently enjoyed pressure, having qualified for the 1965 Western Open as an amateur and receiving an invite to the 1966 Masters Tournament. Henry won the 1965 Canadian Amateur, the 1966 and 1967 Peach Blossoms in Macon, Georgia, as well as the Southern Amateur (1962) and Georgia Amateur (1964). After graduating from Georgia Tech in 1967, with first-team All-American golf honors and a degree in industrial management in hand, Henry put all his emphasis on golf, adding appearances in the 1966 and 1967 U.S. Opens to his amateur resume. He made his TOUR debut as a professional in Lafayette, Louisiana, at the 1967 Cajun Classic, tying for 47th. That was one of the 118 made cuts he enjoyed during his career. Eighteen months after that entrance to the professional ranks, Henry was a TOUR winner, capturing his lone title in Miami, the 1969 National Airlines Open. That week at the Country Club of Miami, Henry shot rounds of 69-73-66-70 — his 73 coming on the same day former U.S. President and noted golfer Dwight D. Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C. — to defeat Bruce Crampton, Dan Sikes, Bob Murphy and Dave Stockton by a shot. Prior to the final round, while on the practice green, Henry told Murphy, his old rival from the University of Florida during their college golf days, that they should finish “one-two in this thing.� Murphy replied with, “Yeah, it would be good, but let’s not get the order mixed up.� Henry didn’t, making birdies on five of his first six holes and eventually hanging on for the win and the $40,000 first-prize money. He is one of two former college placekickers to win on the PGA TOUR, along with Duke’s Mike Souchak. Henry had a couple additional close calls, in both 1973 and 1974. He tied for second with Bob Dickson at the Shrine-Robinson Open Golf Classic in Robinson, Illinois, losing to Deane Beman by a stroke. A year later, Henry tied for second with Gil Morgan at the weather-shortened Magnolia Classic, losing by two shots to Dwight Nevil in a tournament in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, played opposite the Masters Tournament. Henry’s final full-time TOUR season came in 1981, when he played in 15 events. He made 21 additional TOUR appearances between 1986 and 1998. In February 1994, Henry turned 50 and began playing PGA TOUR Champions golf. After Monday qualifying into three events, in 1994 and 1995, he earned his 1996 playing privileges by tying for fourth at the Qualifying Tournament the previous December. In 63 career PGA TOUR Champions tournaments, Henry had three top-10s, his best performance a third-place showing at the Boone Valley Classic outside St. Louis. However, that was a bittersweet and disappointing end as Henry entered the final round holding a two-shot lead before a Sunday, 2-over 73 ended his chances. His final PGA TOUR Champions appearance came in 2001, at the Mexico Senior Classic. Henry was a member of the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame for both his football and golf exploits, inducted in 1985. He was also a member of the Lowndes (Georgia) County Sports Hall of Fame. Since 2002, Henry had served as a golf instructor at Reynolds Plantation Golf Academy in Macon. He is survived by his wife, Marcia, three sons, Brad and twins Shawn and Shane, and a daughter, Meredith. Funeral services are pending.

Click here to read the full article…

After entering the weekend in contention at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Carlos Ortiz heads to Houston to defend in one of the PGA TOUR’s longest-running host cities. To win this year’s Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open, however, he’ll have to top a field boasting many of the game’s top players. FIELD NOTES: Brooks Koepka will head back to Houston – and the course he had a hand in shaping – to find his game after some continued struggles saw him miss the cut in Mexico… Koepka is joined by 13 other major champions in the Houston field… Matthew Wolff, who held the 36-hole lead in Mexico, is teeing it up… Past Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open winners teeing it up include the last four champs: Ortiz (defending a TOUR title for the first time), Lanto Griffin, Russell Henley, and Ian Poulter… Texas native and U.S. Ryder cup team member Scottie Scheffler is in the field after sitting in second place halfway through last week’s World Wide Technology Championship… Adam Scott, who won in Houston in 2007, is returning to action after a T5 at THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT… Sponsor exemptions include Arizona State senior Cameron Sisk, Houston-area residents MJ Daffue and Shawn Stefani, and Brooks Koepka’s younger brother, Chase Koepka… Sisk earned his spot by winning the Maridoe Intercollegiate. He is 18th in the PGA TOUR University ranking. Sisk has finished in the top 5 in all three of his starts this season, including a win and runner-up. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points. COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, par 70, 7,412 yards. This municipal course underwent a dramatic renovation by famed architect Tom Doak, with consultation from Brooks Koepka, before returning to the PGA TOUR after an absence of nearly six decades. To prepare for the TOUR’s return, holes were both shortened and lengthened, and trees were removed. The course boasts strategic bunkering, and unique green contours with dramatic short-grass runoffs – making it a second-shot golf course. STORYLINES: The Houston stop is the penultimate event on the PGA TOUR schedule in 2021… With just one more event left after Houston, this is prime time for many to earn valuable FedExCup points. Sixteen of the top 30 players on the FedExCup standings (as of Nov. 6), including leader Sam Burns, will tee it up in Houston. Three past FedExCup champions (Bill Haas, Brandt Snedeker, and Henrik Stenson) are scheduled to play… Ortiz is looking to become the first golfer to defend his title in Houston since Vijay Singh in 2004-05… While there hasn’t been a playoff in Houston since 2018, the event has still seen playoffs 23 times out of its 74 editions – the second most of any in the TOUR’s history after the U.S. Open. 72-HOLE RECORD: 266, Curtis Strange and Lee Trevino (1980 at Woodlands CC), Vijay Singh (2002 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 268, Phil Mickelson (2011), Russell Henley (2017). Memorial Park Golf Course record: 267, Carlos Ortiz (2020) 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Ron Streck (3rd round, 1981 at Woodlands CC), Fred Funk (3rd round, 1992 at TPC Woodlands). Golf Club of Houston record: 63, Johnson Wagner (1st round, 2008), Adam Scott (1st round, 2008), Jimmy Walker (1st round, 2011), Phil Mickelson (3rd round, 2011), Scott Piercy (1st round, 2015), Sung Kang (2nd round, 2017). Memorial Park Golf Course record: 63, Hideki Matsuyama (4th round, 2020), Talor Gooch (4th round, 2020) LAST TIME: Carlos Ortiz finally broke through to win on the PGA TOUR (after winning three times on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2014) after a final-round 65 in Houston. He became the first Mexican player in 42 years to win on the PGA TOUR. … Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama tied for second, then went on to win the next two Masters. Johnson won 2020’s unique November Masters the following week and Matsuyama won in the tournament’s return to its traditional April date … Ortiz needed two putts to win on the 72nd hole, but drained a 20-footer for birdie to finish in style. Matsuyama and Johnson finished tied for second, two shots back of Ortiz. Talor Gooch finished fourth, while Brooks Koepka and Sepp Straka rounded out the top five. Koepka had a role in redesigning the tournament’s host layout, the Memorial Park Golf Course. The 2020 Houston Open was the first domestic PGA TOUR event that allowed spectators since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 2,000 tickets sold per day. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (Featured Groups) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

Click here to read the full article…

The Aloha Swing could be mistaken as a brand name for a hammock, but as we witnessed on Sunday, a trip to the 50th state isn’t always devoid of the pressure that the weightless feel of a relaxing sway alleviates. The back half of the fortnight to open the calendar year is this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii. Reservations for 144 golfers give it the distinction of the first full-field after the holiday break, so the midseason grind will continue with a standard cut after 36 holes. Waialae Country Club in Honolulu has been the only host site in tournament history. For what’s expected on the short par 70, cemented patterns and more, scroll past the ranking of 15 who are projected to contend for the title. Kevin Kisner, Cameron Smith and former champions Zach Johnson (2009) and Jimmy Walker (2014, 2015) will be among the notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider. Of the 34 participants in the Sentry Tournament of Champions, 23 have made the short trip to Oahu to take full advantage of the 2019-20 season resuming in Hawaii. Only four of those committed as of midday Monday finished inside the top 10 last week, but since Kapalua first hosted the winners-only event in 1999, 15 of the 21 champions of the Sony Open in Hawaii competed the previous week on Maui. That’s the value of hitting the islands running. The trend dates back to Jimmy Walker’s first of two consecutive titles in 2014. The year prior, then-rookie Russell Henley became the first entrant since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1965 to prevail in his first appearance at Waialae. Just as gusty winds governed scoring last week at Kapalua – the 14-under 278 that was good enough to get into the playoff was the highest winning aggregate in regulation in 13 years – the field at Waialae is bracing for similarly challenging conditions. Strong trade winds and an elevated threat of rain hog the forecast for the first three rounds. Typically in these elements, patience and the experience borne from it are rewarded more than anything strategic, but the low ball flight of defending champion Matt Kuchar is the preferred method for cutting through and soaring beneath the breezes. It’s been 10 years since the field averaged over par at Waialae (70.06 in 2010), but it cannot be ruled out this week. Distance off the tee on the 7,044-yard test is all but irrelevant, but piling up the par breakers on the pair of par 5s (Nos. 9 and 18) is all but a prerequisite for success. (Kuchar ranked T4 on them en route to victory.) As a set, they’ve ranked as the easiest par 5s in each of the last five seasons. That includes a PGA TOUR record-low 4.30 in 2018. In advance of last year’s edition, the 551-yard finisher was fitted with a new green that was one-third larger than its previous iteration. Its scoring average of 4.486 established a four-year high, but only as a matter of fact as it remained the second-easiest hole in relation to par. There are no significant changes for this year’s tournament. TifDwarf bermudagrass greens are prepped to run no longer than 11 feet on the Stimpmeter due to the impact of the wind. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

Click here to read the full article…