Who is Russell Henley?  63, 63, 67, 63, one for one in PGA Tour starts as a professional, new Sony Open Tournament record, a record for one of the lowest 72 hole scores of any PGA Tour event, and one heck of a tournament for Russell Henley.  Oh I also forgot to mention he shot 29 on the back nine to win the tournament fighting off Tim Clark who birdied 7 of his last 11 holes.  YUP!

What a week in Hawaii for PGA Tour Rookie Russell Henley.  I can honestly say that no one has come out on tour and set a bar so high for a PGA Tour rookie since TW.  Yes I am going to throw that out there.  I think that Russell Henley is going to be one of the hottest tour players in the years to come and I am so happy he is an American.  The American Golfing Public needs some young guns to come out on tour and shake up the dominance of the foreign player.  Please do not take that statement any other way than a patriot hoping and wishing for some strong American golfers on Tour to compete for that coveted world #1 spot.  We need more Keegan Bradleys, Brandt Sneedeckers, Dustin Johnsons, and so on.  The game of golf needs a push in America again, and I think the players we have just mentioned are the key factors in that push, and they need help.

I have gotten a little off track, back to the Sony Open in Hawaii and Russell Henley’s opening act.  Russell can play golf, and he plays golf well.  Take into account that this young man (23 years old) won on the Web.com tour as an amateur  and then again two more times as a professional.  He wins his first PGA Tour event as a professions.  Russell is no stranger to being at the head of the pack.  Coming out on tour and shooting the scores that he did at Waialae Country Club has set the bar very high.  Can he keep up the pace that he has set for himself?  I hope so and I am again very excited about the 2013 PGA Tour Season.

Chicago Golf Guy’s Two Cents: 
Not only has Russell Henley won his first PGA Tour Event, he has gotten himself an invite to the Masters and he catapulted himself up on the world rankings (near top 50).  With the top 50 world ranking he should get into the US Open on that qualification, and every PGA Tour Rookie is looking to get into the major golf tournaments with out the necessity of qualifying

Oh one last thing….he is a NIKE GOLF AMBASSADOR   Yup another leap forward for Team Nike.

Related articles

• Russell Henley with a pair of 63′s at the Sony Open (chicagogolfguy.com)
• PGA Tour rookie Russell Henley wins Sony Open in Hawaii | Golf (seattletimes.com)
• Henley gets PGA Tour career off to record start (nbcsports.msnbc.com)
• Nike Golf athlete Russell Henley secures his first PGA Tour victory (nikeinc.com)
• Henley gets PGA Tour career off to record start (espn.go.com)