FORT WORTH, Texas — Russell Henry went from being in the rough and just avoiding over par in the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge to winning the tournament.
After saving par on Sunday’s 15th hole to stay three shots behind the leader, Henry made four straight birdies. He finished regulation with three shots in a row to set up a playoff against Eric Cole, then hit a 5-footer on the first extra hole to win his fourth.
“I’m still kind of at a loss for words,” Henry said after finishing with a 3-under 67 for his sixth PGA Tour win. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here.”
Henry’s late surge derailed Cole, also 37, from winning his first PGA Tour victory, but Ben Griffin came close that day, becoming the only player other than Ben Hogan to win consecutive tournaments at Colonial.
Henry, who was playing in the group ahead of Cole, sank 15-foot putts on the 171-yard 16th hole and the par-4 17th hole. He hit a 17-footer on the par-4 18th hole to make it 12 under.
Cole shot an even-par 70, making par on his final seven holes (eight including the playoff).
Griffin (65), Alex Smalley (68) and Mac Misner (69) finished with 11-under 269 at Hogan’s Alley.
Henry, whose best finish this year was a tie for third at the Masters, won $1.78 million for his plaid jacket and customized 1982 Jeep Scrambler.
“I’ve been playing really well the last three, four years, maybe even better, and I feel like even though I’ve been playing well, I still keep coming back to the realization that it’s very difficult,” Henry said. “So to win here and to play well consistently takes everything out of me. … It takes some mental pain as well. So every time I cross the goal line and get a win, it’s really special.”
Henry and Cole played the 18th again on the extra hole, and their drives stopped in the fairway. Cole made a big break when the ball somehow bounced off the left rough and landed on the edge of the short grass. Henry then hit a wedge shot to first and Cole hit his shot to 13 feet before missing the birdie.
Cole, making his 120th start on the PGA Tour since his debut in 2021, stayed in the legal lead in the final round, even when he finished the front nine with his first double bogey (or more) in 316 holes. After taking a wayward drive on the 398-yard ninth and approaching the water in front of the green, his long bogey chance stopped short of the cup.
His only birdie on the back was the 628-yard 11th, but he had some important par savers in the second half. He made an up-and-down from a fairway bunker on the 443-yard 12th hole, missed a putt to within 5 feet after his tee shot on the par-3 16th green was still 47 feet from the cup, and short chipped his final putt after his approach on the 18th hole bounced awkwardly into the rough and was 15 feet away.
“I was proud of the way I played. I think I played consistently for the most part. … I just needed to hit some shots somewhere,” said Cole, who shot a 63 on Saturday to start the day with a two-shot lead. “It’s disappointing, but I’m still happy with my play and feel good.”
Henry started the day with an eagle birdie, but quickly returned all three of his shots with bogeys on Nos. 3 through 5, the aptly named Colonial’s dreaded horseshoe. He also suffered a bogey on the 9th hole and finished at 8 under.
“It was a weird start to the day, but I just kept fighting,” Henry said.
Griffin started his third straight round with a 68, started six shots behind and had five birdies on the front nine. But he was one shot away from hitting a 25-footer on the 17th hole to reach 11 under. He was just one stroke behind Cole, who was six holes behind. Griffin had a long birdie opportunity with a curl over the top of the cup on No. 16, then hit a 50-foot shot on No. 18.
“The way it rolls toward the cup is pretty cool,” Griffin said. “It almost ended in a really dramatic way.”
A five-time champion, Hogan won the first two Colonials championships in history in 1946 and 1947, followed by back-to-back titles in 1952 and 1953, and his last victory in 1959.
