{"id":677045,"date":"2026-06-01T02:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T02:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/677045\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T02:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T02:01:10","slug":"comeback-at-colonial-russell-henley-tops-eric-cole-in-playoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/677045\/","title":{"rendered":"Comeback at Colonial: Russell Henley tops Eric Cole in playoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT WORTH, Texas \u2014 Russell Henley went from standing in the rough and just trying to avoid going over par in the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge<\/a> to winning the tournament.<\/p>\n

After saving par at the 15th hole Sunday to remain three strokes off the lead, Henley made four consecutive birdies. He finished regulation with three in a row to force a playoff with Eric Cole, then got his fourth<\/a> with a 5-footer on the first extra hole.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill kind of speechless about it,\u201d Henley said after a closing 3-under 67 and his sixth PGA Tour victory. \u201cHard to believe I\u2019m sitting here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henley\u2019s late surge denied fellow 37-year-old Cole his first PGA Tour win on a day when Ben Griffin came up just short of becoming the only player other than Ben Hogan to win consecutive tournaments at Colonial<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Playing in the group ahead of Cole, Henley made 15-foot putts at the 171-yard 16th hole and the par-4 17th. He got to 12 under with a 17-footer on the par-4 18th.<\/p>\n

Cole shot an even-par 70. He parred the final seven holes \u2014 eight counting the playoff.<\/p>\n

Griffin (65), Alex Smalley (68) and Mac Meissner (69) finished 11-under 269 at Hogan\u2019s Alley.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Players<\/p>\n

Russell Henley\u2019s elite company after winning at Colonial on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Henley, whose best finish this year had been a tie for third at the Masters<\/a>, earned $1.78 million, the plaid jacket and a customized 1982 Jeep Scrambler vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing really well the last three or four years, or even more, really. And even though I\u2019ve been playing well, I still feel like I keep coming back to this realization that it\u2019s just so hard,\u201d Henley said. \u201cSo to get to win out here and to play consistently well, it takes everything out of me. … There\u2019s just the mental grind of it as well. So just each time I\u2019ve gotten over the finish line and gotten a win it\u2019s just very special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drives for Henley and Cole on the extra hole, playing the 18th again, stopped in the fairway \u2014 Cole got a huge break when his ball somehow bounced through the left rough and settled on the edge of the short grass. Henley then hit his wedge shot first, and Cole hit his to 13 feet before missing his birdie attempt.<\/p>\n

Cole, in his 120th PGA Tour start, never fell out of the lead in regulation during the final round<\/a>, even when finishing the front nine with his first double bogey (or worse) in a span of 316 holes. He drove well right into the right rough at the 398-yard ninth hole, hit his approach into the water fronting the green and had a long bogey chance stop an inch from the cup.<\/p>\n

His only birdie on the back was at the 628-yard 11th, but he had some significant par savers down the stretch. He made an up-and-down out of a fairway bunker at the 443-yard 12th hole, lagged a putt inside 5 feet at the par-3 16th after his tee shot on the green was still 47 feet from the cup, then had a short chip to set up his last putt after his approach at the 18th took an awkward bounce right to the rough and was 15 feet away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was proud with the way I played. I think I played solid for the most part. … I just needed to get a shave a shot somewhere,\u201d said Cole, who began the day with a two-stroke lead after a 63 on Saturday<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing, but I still feel good and happy with the way I played.\u201d<\/p>\n

LET RUSSELL HENLEY COOK \ud83d\udd25\ud83c\udfaf<\/p>\n

Phenomenal shot to set up his FOURTH straight birdie from hole 16 to winning on the first playoff hole<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa CBS pic.twitter.com\/XRXeGURr1O<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Henley started the day with an eagle at the 577-yard first hole and a birdie at the 390-yard second, but quickly gave all three of those shots back with bogeys at Nos. 3-5 \u2014 the aptly-named Horrible Horseshoe at Colonial. He had another bogey at No. 9, making the turn at 8 under.<\/p>\n

\u201cKind of a weird start to the day, and just kept fighting,\u201d Henley said.<\/p>\n

Griffin began six strokes back after three consecutive rounds of 68, and had five birdies on the front nine. But he didn\u2019t have another until a 25-footer at the 17th hole to get to 11 under, within a stroke of Cole six holes behind him. Griffin had a long birdie chance at No. 16 curl just over the top of the cup, then a 50-footer lipped out at No. 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty cool to see it rolling toward the cup,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cIt almost made for a really dramatic finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hogan, a five-time winner, won the first two Colonials ever played in 1946 and 1947, went back-to-back again in 1952 and 1953, and got his last win in 1959.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Charles<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Russell Henley\u2019s gutsy performance late Sunday at Colonial Country Club earned him $1,782,000. Here\u2019s how the rest of the tournament\u2019s purse pays out. <\/p>\n