Russell Henley wins the Web.com Tour’s Chiquita Classic
Russell Henley of the United States birdied the first extra hole in the playoffs, at the Chiquita Classic, to record the second Web.com Tour victory of his career, on Sunday, September 30, 2012.
Henley carded a two-under par 70 in the final round in regulation and posted a 22-under par tournament score.
In the meantime, Morgan Hoffmann and Patrick Cantlay also joined him on top of the leaderboard, after signing their scorecards with seven-under par 65.
As a result, the game entered the sudden-death playoffs, where Henley defeated his opponents with a birdie putt on the first extra hole.
The 23-year-old, who recorded his first Web.com Tour win at the Stadion Classic at UGA as an amateur, was pleased to remain calm in the playoffs.
Earlier, on the 18th hole in regulation, Henley was leading the scoreboard with a one-stroke margin.
However, his tee shot on the 18th hole found the water hazard. Thereafter, he reached the green in four shots and he desperately needed to drain the 20-foot bogey putt, which he did in the end.
"I had a tough lie in the bunker and hit one of the worst shots of the week but I hung tough,” he said.
“On the putt, I just tried to let my feel take over and not be too precise with it. I just wanted to put a free stroke on it. It's one of those putts that you try to practice but you can't ever really emulate it. I didn't have much to lose at that point
and I put a pretty good stroke on one”.
According to him, his win at The Club at Longview meant more special to him than his victory last year as an amateur.
He stated that he got off to an average start this season and started returning to his form in the past few weeks.
Moreover, he always wanted to make it to the PGA Tour. Therefore, his victory also moved him to the 12th place in the Web.com Tour money list.
According to the PGA Tour qualification criteria, the top-25 players from the Web.com Tour will get automatic entries to the big stage, next season.
“I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself, I was trying to enjoy this tournament and this moment, rather than thinking what was ahead,” he said.
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