Russell Henley knows a thing about patience – and the penalty for impatience. He went three years between his second and third win on the PGA Tour then another five before notching his fourth win. However, he noted after the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, “I definitely get impatient. I’ve blown tournaments and screwed up and it’s just hard to get yourself in the correct mindset.”
Henley found the correct mindset at Bay Hill. Trailing Collin Morikawa most of the day, Henley hung in. A birdie-bogey two-shot swing at the difficult par-4 14th cut Morikawa’s margin to a single shot. Henley then flipped the leaderboard with a hole-out from just off the green at the par-5 16th for eagle while Morikawa could do no better than par giving Henley the lead. Two pars later and Henley had his fifth PGA Tour title.
“I feel like I’m playing the best I’ve ever played, and it all feels a little bit like icing,” said Henley. “I’m just very comfortable with what I’m doing, I’m confident. But I’m also don’t feel like I’m pressing too hard.”
It would have been easy to press after bogeying both front-nine par 5s, but Henley regrouped with birdies at Nos.8, 12 and 14 before the eagle on 16.
Henley was T-5 in greens in regulation with his Titleist T100 irons (he also uses a T200 4-iron). Interestingly, Henley employs two different shafts in his irons, using True Temper’s AMT Tour White X100 in his 4- through 6-irons and True Temper’s Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 in his 7- through 9-iron.
The Titleist Vokey SM10 60-degree wedge he used for the eagle pitch has just four degrees of bounce. He also used his wedges to rank first for the week in strokes gained/around the green, picking up more than six shots on the field – which is pretty sporty when you win by one shot.
What Russell Henley had in the bag at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Driver: Titleist GT3 (HZRDUS Smoke Black 6.5 TX), 10 degrees
3-wood: Titleist GT3, 16.5 degrees
Hybrid: Titleist TSi2, 21 degrees
Irons (4): Titleist T200; (5-9): Titleist T100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM10 (48, 50, 54, 60 degrees)
Putter: Scotty Cameron by Titleist Phantom 5
