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Rising rookie Russell Henley is a former Dawg with a silky smooth putting stroke

26.05.13

The education of Russell Henley began with a tutorial from the comedian Dave Chappelle. It was the last day of the 2008 Georgia Amateur, and Henley, then 19, was tied for the lead. Robert Tyre Jones Jr. had won the first state am; Harris English, the guy Henley was tied with and his roommate at Georgia, was the defending champ. If that wasn’t pressure enough, the ’08 Am was at Idle Hour, Henley’s home club in Macon, and he knew many of the fans in attendance.

“I’ll never forget how nervous he was,” says Bobby Hix, the Idle Hour pro, who began working with Henley when the latter was 12. “He was on the range, and he said, ‘Coach, I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t get the ball off the ground.’ He was hitting these awful-sounding shots off the bottom of the club, ankle-high. His brother, Adam, was his caddie, and we both just stood there. I said, ‘Y’all come inside.’ We watched Dave Chappelle on YouTube and laughed and laughed, and after a while I said, ‘You’re ready. Go play golf.’ ”

Source: Golf.com