Russell Henley opens 65–68 at the Procore Championship and calls it what it is: keep the momentum and “stick with the process.” With 16 birdies in 36 holes and nearly 195 feet of putts made (110 ft in R1, 85 ft in R2), Henley credits steady work with Phil Kenyon—clean setup and reducing face rotation—as his putting foundation. The Silverado plan? Hit fairways, attack when you can, tidy up the short game, and keep the pedal down. He admits the Ryder Cup is on his mind, but this week’s about tournament focus, body/PT work, and stacking chances on gettable greens (running ~11–12). Plus: his take on Sam Burns’ elite putting—simple setup, clear mind, start it on line. Weekend incoming.
Keywords: Russell Henley, Procore Championship, PGA Tour, Silverado, Napa, Ryder Cup prep, Phil Kenyon, putting stats, Sam Burns, fairways, short game, birdies
Russell, I thought it was another really solid round of golf. I know you’re probably a little frustrated you didn’t carry the momentum from the outward nine to your inward nine, but still those are two really well played rounds of golf. Your thoughts? Yeah, I mean definitely I’m putting really well. Um, you know, it’s tough to shoot four or five under on every nine holes you play. So, um, going to try to just keep the momentum going and keep committing to my shots and hopefully I can keep making some birdies. Yeah, you had 110 feet in putts in the opening round, 85 feet here in the second round. You’ve already made 16 birdies. I always think 20 birdies for the week. Pretty good benchmark to make 20 birdies. Should finish in the top 10, have a chance to win. You’re right there. I mean, what what have you made any changes in in your putting or you just seeing the line really well or you like these greens? Uh, yeah. I I’ve just kind of stayed really consistent with my work with Phil Kenyon. Um, I try not to deviate too much on what we work on. Try to be consistent in my work ethic and put the same amount of time in all the time and um I just feel I felt really comfortable. Do you mind sharing one of those keys that you work on with Phil? Uh, I just I’ we work on setup a lot. And then another thing I I typically do is I have a little bit too much arc, face rotation. So, I’m always trying to somehow feel like the back swing is a little stronger face. So, uh, going back so it doesn’t open up on me. Take me through holes beginning at 13. 13 14 15. 13 14 15. My f Okay. Not not Okay. On your outward nine. This is tough because they’ve rerouted. What is 13? 10 11. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, that T- shot on 13, you want to make sure you’re right because if you’re hit in that bunker or left, you’re blocked out by the tree. So, I hit a good T- shot there. And then, um, needed to control the spin. I was on the up slope and kind of in between clubs, so I chipped a 55 degree from about 90 yards. Tried to land at 80 or 85 and had a perfect putt up the hill. Uh, the next hole, I had a really big breaking putt uh, above above the hole and to the left, which is not necessarily where you want to be, but judged it nicely and made it. And then um 14 15 uh par five down the hill. I hit a great wedge shot in there and it kind of hit on the downs slope when it hit the green but felt really good about my line and and I was right. Great start. We’ll see you on the weekend. Thank you. Marty Mark filling with one other additional programing. JJ, um can you just kind of sum up what you’re getting out of this week? I mean in terms of prep for the Router Cup. I mean how you obviously playing very well. you’re up top of the leaderboard and and obviously if you combine that with everything that’s going on with the dinners and hanging with the guys and stuff like that how productive this is for you right now just in terms of I think it’s good to just get the body moving and get uh get that intense focus like that the tournament gives you. You know, it’s tough to simulate that at home um and get um the type of focus you get at an actual event. And so getting the getting the work on the body before and after the round, the PT work and um the practice and yeah, and all the time getting to hang with the guys is cool, too. Now, you’re one of the better putters on tour. I’m curious what your take is on on Burns and how he puts. He’s he’s known as one of the top guys. Do you, you know, do you guys look at each other and see what what he does well and what not? Maybe try to glean certain stuff or Oh, yeah. That’s all I do. I mean, I do that with every I mean, if there’s a four handicap chipping at home and I like the way he’s chipping or I like the way he’s hitting a bunker shot, I’ll ask him what he’s thinking about. I’ve always been like that and anybody who does something really well, I’ll ask him questions for sure. When you look at what Sam does, what do you see technically? Why is he such a good player? Yeah, I think I think Sam works um on his setup and his alignment and he’s he’s hitting his line a bunch and I think that um I think he just has a clear mind when he putts. I think that he feels like, you know, if he’s reading them right, he’s going to he’s going to have a great day putting and he just keeps it really simple. Russell, was the course getable today in terms of no wind, soft greens? Uh it’s not totally firm and fast yet, but was there, you know, uh good scoring conditions today? Definitely. Yeah, it was uh good scoring conditions, but you know, this morning it being kind of cloudy and the the rough was wet, you really had to hit the fairway to be able to attack. So, um, yeah, it was definitely getable, but you still had to hit the ball well to get it done. How do these greens measure up against other courses you play? Uh, like speedwise or speed, break, slow? Yeah, I mean, I I think they’re kind of um pretty much normal for the PGA Tour. Um 11 or 12 on the stump and um yeah, I I think the I think they’re pretty much right in the middle of the road. Yeah. How was exciting is it for you to see so many great American players who are on the RDER Cup team now at the top of this leaderboard? Yeah, it’s cool. I mean, you know, rooting for everybody to get their game where they want it going into uh the RDER Cup and hope everybody has a good weekend. Final from Doug before we go to JJ. Have you talked to anyone JT would come to mind of of playing in your first President’s Cup last time and and how the RDER Cup would be different? Uh have I talked to him about it? Uh JT or JJ? Who’ you say? JT. JT. He’s one of the few that did presidents got first. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Gotcha. Gotcha. Um I’ve just heard it’s it’s much different. It’s much more it’s it’s especially going from when I it was away um to to being a home game. It’s 51st state building. Yeah. Yeah. Going to be much different. That’s kind of the thing I’ve heard is like a home rider cup is is way different than than an away president’s cup for sure. So I think it’s just going to be um really loud. Nice play. Thanks, bud. How’d you do? Uh, consistent. Two over, two over. Sorry, bud.
