NAPA, Calif. — When he steps onto the course at Bethpage Black on the opening day of the Ryder Cup, Russell Henley is unlikely to intimidate anybody on the European side.
The soft-spoken veteran has a grand total of five PGA Tour wins and has never played in the Ryder Cup. He’s a “rookie” in the sense that he’s never experienced this unique competition, even though he’s been a pro for 15 years and only in recent times began to adjust his approach to believing he’s among the best in the world.
“I’ve been trying to make these teams my whole career,” Henley said at the Procore Championship, where he tied for 19th in a tune-up for the Ryder Cup. “I feel like I really put everything I had into it about six years ago. I started to work on everything in my game and kind of changed the way I looked at tournament golf a little bit.
“I changed my strategy more to play where the best players in the world are playing even if the course doesn’t feel comfortable to me. I had kept my card for a long time at that point and it was really seeing if I could take it to another level. I think just having that focus has helped me. It feels kind of surreal to have made two teams. I’m just trying to enjoy it. It’s not like I’ve got 20 more years.”
Henley, 36, made the U.S. Presidents Cup team last year and will undoubtedly be a big part of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, having qualified fourth on the points list. That is an impressive accomplishment alone.
A very quiet fourth in the Official World Golf Ranking behind Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele, Henley won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March—surpassing Collin Morikawa with a chip-in eagle on the 16th hole—and had seven other top-10 finishes.
He’s also had five top 10s in major championships over the past two years.
Perhaps more importantly as it relates to the Ryder Cup, he’s got the respect of Scheffler, who quite likely will be his partner for at least part of the team competition.
“Yeah, Russell is a tremendously hard worker,” said Scheffler, whose 5-under-par 67 on Sunday was enough for a one-shot victory over another Ryder Cup teammate, Ben Griffin. “When I’m in the gym, I see him in the gym. When I’m out practicing, I see him out practicing. Russell is a guy I look up to for a variety of reasons. He’s a great person; he’s a great golfer as well. Anytime you see a guy who puts in the amount of effort that Russell puts into becoming a good golfer and seeing him have success, it really is special to see.”
For all of the talk about Scheffler and Sam Burns and their friendship, the duo have not exactly lit it up as partners. They went 0–2–1 at the 2022 Presidents Cup and 0–1 at the 2023 Ryder Cup, going 0–3 in foursomes.
Meanwhile, Henley played three times with Scheffler last year at the Presidents Cup, going 2–1 and 1–1 in foursomes. That latter format is hugely important as it will begin the Ryder Cup. There’s no way Scheffler is sitting out that session. So it makes sense if Henley is there alongside him.
“To look around and see guys who have played on Ryder Cups before, guys you’ve been trying to beat and match your game up to, now you’re on that same team and it’s pretty cool,” Henley said. “I keep pinching myself. I’m just really excited. It’s kind of surreal.”
Jon Rahm’s DP World Tour Appeal
It was a year ago last week that Jon Rahm, at the last minute, appealed his fines to the DP World Tour that resulted from playing in conflicting LIV Golf League events.
It paved the way for him—and Tyrrell Hatton as well—to play in the Ryder Cup next week.
Because the appeal has yet to be heard, the move effectively “kicked the can” down the road.
At some point, however, there will be a hearing, and whatever the outcome, both sides are going to need to come to some reckoning.
Rahm needed to appeal because the upcoming deadline for last year’s Spanish Open loomed. In order to play, he needed to either pay the outstanding fines, believed to be in excess of $1 million, appeal them or risk his DP World Tour membership—which would keep him out of the Ryder Cup.
Obviously, Rahm could afford to pay the fines (he’s earned $36 million in bonus money the past two years alone). LIV Golf had been paying them, anyway (a practice league officials say will end after this year). But it was a matter of principle to Rahm, who believed such fines were not proper.
“I’m not a big fan of the fines. I think I’ve been outspoken about that,” he said on Sept. 11, 2024, at the LIV Golf Chicago event. “I don’t intend to pay the fines, and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen.
“I’ve said many times, I don’t go to the Spanish Open for the glory or anything else. I think it’s my duty to Spanish golf to be there, and I also want to play in Sotogrande [another DP World Tour event]. At that point, it would almost be doing not only me but Spanish golf a disservice by not letting me play, so yeah, that’s why we’re trying to talk to them and make that happen.
“I would also love to play the Dunhill ... I would love to be able to play all those events.”
All of which puts the DP World Tour in a tough spot. Because the fines were appealed, Rahm was allowed to play and continues to be able to do so, including this past week’s BMW PGA Championship, where he tied for 13th.
Clearly the DP World Tour wants the stars in its events and Rahm, a two-time major winner, is a star. The sponsors want him, too.
But the DP World Tour also is faced with sticking to its rules and the millions of dollars it has collected in fines from others who ran afoul of the same conflicting events rules.
In April 2023, the DP World Tour won a case that went before a U.K. arbitration panel, basically upholding the tour’s right to enforce its rules and fines. So what happens if the appeal is denied? Or, what if Rahm’s appeal is successful? What about all the fines already paid?
When asked where the appeal process stands at Wentworth, Rahm said: “I know as much as you do. I have no idea. I have no clue. To be fair, I completely forgot about, which is a good thing. I hope I forget about it until it happens.”
When will it happen? The DP World Tour has never said, nor does there seem to be any indication as to why it is taking so long.
One thing is for sure: there is no way it happens prior to next week.
Gary Woodland, the Ryder Cup and the Fall
It continues to be a remarkable journey for Gary Woodland, the 2019 U.S. Open champion who disclosed in late 2023 that he had a brain lesion that required surgery. That fact that he came back early in 2024 and continues to play at a high level is a testament to his game and his resolve. And it is fair to keep things in perspective when pointing out his various struggles.
Woodland, 41, who finished the regular season 72nd in FedEx Cup points, didn’t qualify for the playoffs and thus needs some success in the fall if he wants to try and move into the top 60 and earn spots in the first two signature events next year.
That is the carrot that will motivate him in the remaining events in the fall schedule, although Woodland is unsure how much he will play in order to take care of himself.
He tied for 19th at the Procore Championship, where he played along with the other Ryder Cup players and vice captains, a role Woodland will have next week at Bethapge.
“It’s a massive deal; it is,” Woodland said of trying to get into the top 60. “But I also have a lot of confidence in myself and my game. And physically, I need to make sure I’m healthy. That might mean I take some time off after this. I’m here [at the Procore] because the guys are here. I’ll probably play in Japan and then we’ll see. I might take the rest of the year off and when I show up do what J.J. [Spaun] did and go play my way into everything. It’s nice to play well and not have to do that.
“I’ve been out of that [signature event) position the last two years and it changes everything. I played 17 years on Tour and this is the first time I haven’t had a two-week break. I got into four elevated [signature] events. You play to get in them and then you have no time off. My body shut down a little bit. So it’ll be maybe a decision where I rest and trust myself a little bit next year.”
Woodland, who remained 72nd in FedEx points after the Procore, played 21 times this season with a single top 10, a tie for second at the Houston Open. He had three other top-20 finishes but missed six cuts.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as This Ryder Cup Rookie Will Bring a Fresh Mindset and Powerhouse Partner.