PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Russell Henley tapped in his final putt Saturday on the famed 18th green at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
He turned, then opened his hands and looked through the low clouds and to the heavens.
Henley simply said thanks.
“What a day. I was just thanking God,” Henley said. “To have one day like that is more than I could ask for.
“When you’re out there and there’s that many people cheering for you, I was just saying thank you. I hope I can experience more, but if not, that’s good enough.”
The University of Georgia senior shot an eventful 1-over-par 72, which put him at 6 over in his first U.S. Open. His round included just seven pars, including one on No. 17 after he got free relief from the bleachers.
A birdie putt on the final hole almost rolled in. He tossed the ball to a girl in the stands, the person who asked for it first.
Then after signing his card, Henley made his way to an open area where a dozen kids begged for his autograph, including one who asked for the signature from atop his father’s shoulders.
“I’m just having fun out there, and it seems that everybody enjoys seeing a player look at them and say thank you,” Henley said. “These guys are cheering their hearts out, and sometimes they don’t get the love, and I’m trying not to be that guy.”
Henley heard an array of cheers from the gallery, ranging from Dawg calls to a girl calling him hot, to one guy simply shouting, “Russell, we like you!”
“I feel like I’m just one of them,” said Henley, who’s attended almost every Masters since he turned 10. “I think it’s cool that people are cheering for me. I’m not saying that if I continue my career as a profession that I’m going to turn every time somebody cheers my name, but I’m going to try.”
Henley enjoyed the day with his brother Adam as caddie, and with other family members and teammate Hudson Swafford — who missed the cut by one — enjoying it just as much.
“Every time he made a birdie, we both were going crazy about it,” Adam Henley said. “Neither one of us said it to each other, but I think in the back of our minds, the goal was to make the cut.
“So we had as much fun as we could and tried to be aggressive.”
Take No. 18 for example. As Henley stood in the middle of the fairway after a solid drive, he tried to reach the green in two. His ball landed short and in the oceanside bunker.
“That’s probably not the percentage shot, but I mean, who cares?” Adam said. “How about that par on 17? He hit it under the stands and made par.
“It was just an all-over-the course kind of day, but a fun day.”