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Winning Honda Classic meant a lot to Russell Henley

By Steve Waters
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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- Russell Henley won the first golf tournament he played in as a PGA Tour professional, but his second Tour victory in last year's Honda Classic was even more meaningful.

"I think winning one time is great," said Henley, who begins the defense of his title Thursday on the Champion course at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens.

"For me to win the second time is [adding] confidence to my game, a ton of confidence. To win a tournament like the Honda, the highest-ranked tournament on the Tour besides the majors, you know you can compete on the Tour."

Henley showed just how well he can compete by the way he won the Honda, which had seven of the world's top 10 players in the field, including No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Adam Scott and No. 3 Henrik Stenson.

In a sudden-death playoff with then No. 8-ranked Rory McIlroy, Ryan Palmer and Russell Knox, Henley won on the first extra hole after he reached the green of the par-5 18th in two and two-putted from 54 feet for birdie.

"I'll always remember that Sunday, playing with Rory," Henley said. "The crowds were so big."

This year's Honda field, which executive director Ken Kennerly said ranks behind only the majors, World Golf Championships and the Memorial, has 16 of the top 25 players in the world. That includes the top-ranked McIlroy, who is making his first PGA Tour start this year at the Honda.

Henley, who is ranked 56th, said the entire Tour is better than ever, all because of Woods, who is not playing in the Honda for the first time in four years because his game is not "tournament ready."

"He's changed the game," said Henley, 25, of Daniel Island, S.C., who grew up watching Woods on TV. "It seems like everybody hits it farther and farther each week. No one has a weakness.

"Hopefully I can be up there. It's hard. It just shows you how competitive the Tour is."

Henley realized that soon after he won his first title, the 2013 Sony Open in Hawaii. Henley set a tournament record with a 24-under-par 256 total on rounds of 63-63-63-67 for a three-shot victory. He had only two top-10 finishes the rest of the season.

He won $2.59 million with three top 10s last year, but felt he could play better, so he went to a teacher who has helped a number of other Tour players.

"I started working with Scott Hamilton at the end of last season because I wanted to improve my ball striking," Henley said. "I want to be more consistent.

So far, so good. In last year's FedExCup playoffs, Henley tied for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship and was 12th at the TOUR Championship.

This season, Henley has already had a tie for third and a tie for fourth in five tournaments and earned almost $700,000.

"It's still hard to believe I've won twice. These guys are so good, it's hard to keep up with them," Henley said, noting that he and Hamilton have worked on the basics of grip, setup and ball position.

"All the simple things are really important," Henley said.

Another important thing Henley has is a positive attitude.

Henley was chasing McIlroy that Sunday afternoon when he came to the Champion course's feared Bear Trap. Named in honor of Jack Nicklaus, who was known as the Golden Bear during his playing days, the Bear Trap consists of holes 15-17, all of which were re-designed by Nicklaus several years ago.

It didn't take long for Henley to get caught: He hit his tee shot on the par-3 15th into the water and ended up with a double bogey.

"Obviously you can't miss it right on that hole," said Henley, who was down, but not defeated. "I just knew I wasn't going to give up."

Henley made pars on his final three holes. Meanwhile, McIlroy had Bear Trap problems of his own.

He doubled the 16th when his approach came up short in the water and bogeyed the par-3 17th when he failed to get up and down from a bunker before making birdie at the 18th to get in the playoff.

"The Bear Trap is definitely a fun way to finish that tournament," Henley said. "Everybody talks about the Bear Trap. But the rest of the course is super underestimated.

"On the front nine, 5 is a super-tough par 3. On 6 [a par 4], there's no bailout if you want to get to the green in two. It wears you down. Over the course of four days, you have to do everything right."

This article was written by Steve Waters from Sun Sentinel and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.