AUGUSTA, Ga. — At the Masters, history is what it's all about, and nobody knows that better than Macon native Russell Henley. He attended this tournament growing up.
Henley is now playing at the Masters for the eighth time and might be playing the best golf in the history of his career.
“I feel more comfortable here,” Henley said Tuesday afternoon. “I'm excited to play. I love the course.”
That all makes sense considering what happened last year at the Masters. Henley finishing in a tie for fourth marked his best career finish at a major.
“It's just a big week," Henley said. “Everybody is out here on Monday clapping and cheering for you when you're hitting shots into these greens. It's just a much different setup than a normal tour event, so you just have to embrace all the excitement, and that's kind of what I did last year. I feel like I did a good job of just trying to let that excitement help me stay more focused on what I was doing.”
Henley is fresh off his third top-five finish of the season last week and a new career-high world golf ranking of 17th.
He's playing his best, even when he thinks it's not his best.
“Sometimes I feel like my game is a little off and I’m struggling,” Henley said. “But I feel like I'm able to manage my game on those days and make pars and kind of make some scrappy pars. I feel like I’ve been able to keep my round going.”
Now Masters week number eight begins for the former Stratford Eagle, and with it, the biggest chance to let the work show.
“I feel very good about my game,” Henley said. “I've been working at it a lot these last four or five years, and I’m just going to try to keep believing in it.”
Oh yeah, and maybe getting a cheer – or two – from Central Georgia along the way.