At 35 years old, Russell Henley continues to age like fine wine. One of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour finally made his way back into the winner’s circle for the first time in over 850 days on Sunday at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Henley leapfrogged Collin Morikawa late in the final round to secure the fifth and biggest title of his career at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando.
Henley signed for a final-round 69 to finish the tournament at 11 under, one stroke clear of 54-hole leader Morikawa. Henley hovered around the lead for much of the final round but shot his name to the top of the leaderboard courtesy of a chip-in eagle on his 70th hole, the par-5 16th.
Since the start of 2024, Henley had the most top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour without a victory (10). That honor will now belong to a different player.
“I was just so nervous, unbelievably nervous,” Henley said. “I feel like I can’t breathe right now. It’s just so hard and so difficult around this place. I got a good break there [on No. 16], I holed another one yesterday — the first hole from the bunker — and had a couple hole outs from off the green this week.
“I just tried to stay really tough this week and really felt like I was making a lot of mistakes today on the front nine. I bogeyed two of the par 5s which was tough, and I just tried to hang tough and keep committing to every shot. This game is just so hard. That was unbelievably difficult.”
Beginning the final round one stroke off the pace of Morikawa, Henley had his fair share of hiccups in the early stages. He made bogey on both par 5s on the front nine, Nos. 4 and 6, before settling down with a birdie on the par-4 8th. By the time he made the turn, he saw his deficit grow from to three.
It remained there with five holes to play. Wielding a long iron to just inside 10 feet on the difficult par-3 14th, the American tactician stole a birdie while his playing partner was unable to save par from below the surface. Suddenly from three adrift, Henley was just one behind with four to go.
After exchanging pars on the par-4 15th, Henley hit a 7 iron into the par-5 15th long and to the right. Drawing a decent lie, he tumbled his chip down to the front pin and down the cup for an eagle-3. Morikawa subsequently missed his birdie chance and watched as Henley’s name jumped his to the top spot on the leaderboard. A pair of pars to finish off his round finished off his tournament and cemented Henley’s place as a top-10 player in the world.
“It’s unbelievable…it’s means so much,” Henley said. “I have watched Tiger make so many putts on this green. I have watched Rory and Fran and guys make putts to win here and Bryson. It’s just cool that I did it too.” Grade: A+
Here are the rest of the notable names on the leaderboard at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
2. Collin Morikawa (-10): It looked like it his tournament for most of the final round. Despite some mistakes, the two-time major champion entered the final nine holes with a three-stroke lead and appeared to be in cruise control. A bogey on No. 10 was offset by a birdie on No. 12 before two big swings from Henley Nos. 14 and 16 ultimately knocked him out.
He did almost everything right ranking first in strokes gained tee to green and inside the top 10 of each of those statistical categories. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to win as Morikawa now has nine top-five finishes since his last trip to the winner’s circle. Grade: A
T5. Keegan Bradley (-7): A third-round 76 put Bradley on the wrong side of par, but he busted out of the gates on Sunday. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain set the new front-nine scoring record at Bay Hill with his opening 29 and added another birdie to it on No. 10 to reach 8 under on the day and 7 under for the tournament. He had his chances coming in, but Bradley was unable to inch any closer to the lead and instead settled for a final-round 64 and another quality result early in the year. He carded four double bogeys this week.
“I played like this all week,” Bradley said. “I had three doubles yesterday. Other than those three holes, I got a really, I would have, you know, take away those three, I know that’s easy to say, but like, I could have won this tournament. I played well all week and then today, especially, was really, really solid.” Grade: A-
T11. Scottie Scheffler (-4): The world No. 1 did not card an over-par round all week but also did not card a round in the 60s. Hovering between 70 and 72, Scheffler struggled on the greens as he ranked just inside the top 50 in strokes gained putting. The good news is that Scheffler saw some significant improvement with the driver in hand compared to the West Coast Swing. Scheffler ranked first in strokes gained off the tee, second in strokes gained tee to green, second in driving accuracy, third in scrambling and third in greens in regulation. After that offseason injury, he is slowly but surely rounding into form.
“I did some good stuff out there,” Scheffler said. “I started to drive it a little bit better this week, so that was a bonus. I didn’t hole too many putts; it was really challenging out there on these greens. I mean, putting on a surface that’s practically dead, the ball can have a life of its own. I’m proud of hitting a lot of good putts, just wasn’t my week on the greens.” Grade: B+
T15. Rory McIlroy (-3): After a fantastic ball-striking day on Thursday, McIlroy struggled with his scoring clubs and instead had to rely on his short game to keep his head above water. Amid numerous club changes in his golf bag, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am winner hit 43% of his fairways and 58% of his greens in regulation. While this led to a number of bogeys (15 total), McIlroy did keep the big numbers off his card as he did not record a single double bogey. He can work with that as it was influential in his ability to finish inside the top 15 with his game far from its best.
“I led strokes gained off the tee in both Pebble and Torrey, so it was a really good idea to change (laughing),” McIlroy said. “Yeah, so — and then, like yesterday, I lost strokes off the tee, which is the first time I’ve done that in a long time. Yeah, just went back to what was familiar and what’s comfortable.” Grade: B-
T41. Xander Schauffele (+4): It was an up-and-down week for the world No. 3 in his first start since the first week of the new year. Making the cut on the number to extend his streak to 58 in a row, Schauffele struggled to string together rounds as inconsistencies were riddled throughout the bag. He signed for rounds of 77 and 75 but also carded rounds of 71 and 69 to close. This volatile nature was to be expected given the lengthy layoff due to a rib injury. He walks away from Bay Hill with four rounds under his belt, healthy and with plenty more golf out in front of him.
“That was the biggest thing. That’s probably the biggest win of the week,” Schauffele told the PGA Tour. “Not being able to play enough golf coming in here, was rolling the dice a little bit. All scans were clean, but super happy with how I feel. Definitely, with the added golf didn’t feel any strain or any worse, so that’s a big bonus.” Grade: C
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