Russell Henley wins the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open Presented by Planters
Russell Henley’s sensational Web.com Tour season continued with a victory at the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open Presented by Planters, on Sunday, October 21, 2012.
It was his second victory of the season. Earlier, he won the Chiquita Classic, last month, after beating Patrick Cantlay and Morgan Hoffmann in the playoffs.
This week, he had to appear in the playoffs once again to confirm his victory in the $600,000 event. The victory also moved him from the ninth position to the third spot in the Web.com Tour Official Money List.
The American started off his final round campaign three strokes behind the overnight leader BJ Staten.
The front nine witnessed him make a strong charge on the leaderboard, as he recorded five birdies without conceding a single bogey.
Thereafter, things started slowing down for the 23-year-old. He parred each of the first seven holes on the back nine and followed them with a bogey on the 17th hole.
Entering the 18th hole, he was one stroke behind the leader, Staten. Therefore, he desperately needed a birdie to force the game to enter into the sudden-death playoffs.
"I pretty much went into 18 thinking I have to make birdie," he said.
Henley’s approach shot landed 15 feet away from the hole, giving him a chance of ending the final round with a birdie-three.
It was really interesting to know what was actually going through his mind at the time of his final putt.
"I remember I was reading something about Jack Nicklaus in a magazine about making pressure putts," the second-year pro said.
"It said to believe in your line and make a confident stroke and I did that right there. I just tried to put a confident stroke on it, had the right read, and it was really cool seeing it go in”.
Staten double-bogeyed the first extra hole in the playoffs. Henley, in the meantime, made a comfortable par putt to take home his third Web.com Tour title.
He said, “I just love feeling nervous, feeling the pressure and having to hit shots and I think that's helped me out”.
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