Henley Earns Place on USA Ryder Cup Squad

By Ken Klavon, Synovus

For the last few years, Synovus brand ambassador Russell Henley has been knocking on doors to enter the proverbial chambers that house golf’s top players.

That knocking may have stopped.

On Sunday, following a T15th finish at the BMW Championship, Henley was one of the six automatic additions to the USA Ryder Cup team that will meet the European squad at Bethpage Black Golf Course on September 26-28. The Ryder Cup, a biennial match play competition, has long been a prestigious event in professional golf dating to 1927. The U.S. holds a 27-15-2 advantage.

“I am thrilled to be one of the six qualifiers to the Ryder Cup team,” says Henley. “Not only is it a dream come true, but it’s an honor and privilege to play alongside such talented teammates. Being part of the Presidents Cup last year in some ways taught me how to prepare for this. I am really looking forward to the challenge at Bethpage Black.”

Henley joins Scottie Sheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English, all of whom had the most Ryder Cup points. Points for USA Team qualifiers were determined by PGA TOUR events and major championships. USA Captain Keegan Bradley will choose the remaining six spots to round out the 12 players.

Count Bradley as a Henley fan.

Earlier in the season, when asked about Henley’s Ryder Cup chances, he told SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio: “Russell is the ultimate teammate. He's a great guy, great in the team room, but he's also somebody everyone wants to play with. [He] has no weaknesses, hits the ball great, putts it even better. He is fun to be around."

For Henley, the Ryder Cup addition became another dream realized. Earlier in his career, he set what may have been high-reaching goals for anyone else.

He burst onto the scene with a standout career at the University of Georgia, where he was a four-time All-American and 2010 Haskins Award winner as the nation’s top male collegiate golfer. His three wins on the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) helped him gain his PGA TOUR card by the end of 2012.

After being defeated by Patrick Cantlay in a 21-hole match at the 2011 U.S. Amateur, he spoke about future goals he had. One was to earn his PGA TOUR card; others were to win the Masters and one day be added to a Ryder Cup team. In a sit-down interview two years ago, he hadn’t wavered, adding being a Presidents Cup team selection.

“I'd love to make a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team,” said Henley, 36, who makes his home in Columbus, Georgia. “And I think the biggest thing I see year in year out is [that] I want to be consistent.”

A five-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Henley’s career trajectory looks something like a 401(k)-bar chart climb: steadily elevating with each season. He finished last year ranked 15th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), only to move up to fourth after the BMW Championship. A win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, accompanied by nine top 10 finishes in tournaments this season, helped Henley swiftly ascend the Ryder Cup points list.

“I think my last three years have been my best three years of golf of my life,” says Henley. “I've gotten a little better each year. Just been really consistent with my work ethic and what I'm doing. And really the main thing is just my family support system. My wife [Synovus brand ambassador Teil Duncan] is unbelievable and can sometimes act as my psychologist a little bit. But she's so supportive in what I do and believes in me and just gives me steel in my spine.”

Last year Henley earned a place on the USA Presidents Cup team that beat the International squad at Royal Montreal Golf Club. Henley proved his mettle. In a lauded move, Captain Jim Furyk paired Henley with Sheffler after the world No. 1 player had struggled at previous team match play events. Furyk introduced the idea to both at last year’s Tour Championship. Both were open to it.

Henley’s even keel demeanor, grinding nature and tendency to be efficient around the course helped the twosome go 2-1 and earn three points. Henley also went 1-0 in singles. Faced with several high-pressure moments, Henley parlayed clutch shots into wins. Finishing sixth best overall in strokes gained among all President Cup players proved that perhaps he could be a fixture on future teams.

“I knew I could play – and play well in tough circumstances,” says Henley.

Incidentally, Henley credited Bradley – who was on the Presidents Cup team – with calming his nerves and absorbing the camaraderie as a team. Henley shared a couple stories about golf psychologists who emphasize remaining calm under pressure. He said he’s not built that way, adding, “I like to get my intensity up to meet that kind of nervousness.”

“Keegan told me the start of the week, he said just enjoy the [Presidents Cup]. The time you get with the guys at these dinners and on the bus and just hanging out – you just don't get that in a normal week. You'll enjoy these times much more than the golf.”

For now, flying under the radar has worked out well. That may all change with the notoriety a Ryder Cup brings, coupled with consistent performances that have seen him accelerate up the OWGR. At the end of 2021, he stood 59th in the world; 52nd after 2022; and 24th in 2023. Standing at fourth after the BMW Championship, it's the highest he's ever been. 

Besides winning, he constantly hammers home the word “consistent.” There’s an argument to be that Henley has figured it out, but he’ll be the first to deny that. After all, that’s golf – a funny game that offers no rhyme or reason.

“It's been surreal,” says Henley. “I definitely feel like I've put in the work and worked on all the right things. Over the last five or six years, I feel like I've really started to do things the right way.”

Results matter. It’s paying off.