Henley’s 61 Puts Georgia Native on Top at East Lake

ATLANTA — Russell Henley did not need much help from the gallery Thursday at East Lake. The Georgia native supplied plenty of excitement himself.

Henley opened the 2025 TOUR Championship with a 9-under 61, taking a two-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler and immediately putting himself in position in the season-ending FedExCup finale.

It was a bogey-free round and a career-low-tying score for Henley, who played the closing holes in remarkable fashion. He one-putted six of his final seven holes and made birdie putts from 42 feet on No. 16 and 35 feet on No. 17 before rolling in a 12-footer for another birdie on 18.

The final three birdies turned an already excellent round into the day’s defining performance.

Henley finished with 207 feet of putts made, the most of his PGA TOUR career. Asked afterward if it was the most he’d ever made, Henley offered a typically understated answer.

“Probably the most I’ve ever made.”

For a player who entered the week ranked fourth in the world and finished fourth at East Lake a year earlier, the round was hardly a fluke. Henley has long been one of the better putters on TOUR, and Thursday he paired that strength with the kind of ball-striking required to take advantage of a softened East Lake course.

The rain that moved through Atlanta on Wednesday left the course receptive, and players were allowed to lift, clean and place their balls in the fairway. Henley said the conditions made the course more approachable than it had been a year earlier.

“It was a little bit more gettable,” Henley said.

Scheffler Keeps Pace

Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player and defending FedExCup champion, was hardly an afterthought.

He shot 7-under 63, his lowest opening round in six appearances at East Lake, and finished alone in second. Scheffler missed only one fairway through his first 17 holes and made a crucial 25-foot par putt on No. 16 before closing with consecutive birdies.

The 16th provided perhaps the clearest example of the importance of position around East Lake. Scheffler’s lone missed fairway put him in a difficult lie, but he managed to save par.

“I missed one (fairway) on 16 and all of a sudden I’m almost playing for bogey,” Scheffler said. “It’s pretty important around this place.”

That was the difference between the two leaders Thursday. Henley was extraordinary with the putter. Scheffler was exceptionally precise from tee to green.

Both finished the day without a bogey.

A Deep Leaderboard

The tournament’s 30-player field produced the type of scoring expected from the best players in the FedExCup standings, particularly with the soft conditions.

Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood each shot 64 and finished three strokes behind Henley. Rory McIlroy opened with a 66.

Only two players in the field finished over par.

For Thomas, Morikawa and Cantlay, Thursday also carried an added layer of significance with the Ryder Cup captain’s-pick process looming. Morikawa acknowledged that the players were aware of what was at stake beyond the FedExCup.

“I don’t think you’re ever comfortable until you get that call and you’re on the team.”

Still, the number everyone was chasing was Henley’s 61.

McIlroy Gets a Break — Literally

McIlroy provided the day’s most unusual finish.

Playing the 18th with Scheffler, McIlroy found a bunker in front of the green and caught his 39-yard shot cleanly. Instead of carrying into the seating area, the ball struck the grandstand and bounced back onto the putting surface.

McIlroy converted the resulting 17-foot birdie putt for a 4-under 66, allowing the final group to finish just seconds before a weather horn sounded.

The approaching storms eventually forced an evacuation of East Lake.

It was an appropriate ending to an opening day that had already featured just about everything: a hometown player shooting 61, the world’s best player two shots behind him, a leaderboard full of contenders and a weather delay waiting to interrupt the proceedings.

Henley Has the Advantage

The opening round also underscored just how important the new format was in 2025. The TOUR Championship featured 30 players starting at even par, putting the entire field on equal footing for the first time under the revised format. The winner would take home the FedExCup and $10 million from a $40 million purse.

Henley left East Lake Thursday with the advantage.

Scheffler was close behind. Fleetwood, Thomas, Morikawa, Cantlay and MacIntyre were within three shots.

And with three rounds remaining, there was little reason to believe the tournament had been decided.

But there was no question about the story of opening day.

Russell Henley came home with three straight birdies, a 61 and the lead at East Lake.

For a Georgia golfer playing the biggest event of the PGA TOUR season in his home state, it was about as good an opening day as Atlanta could have asked for.