Russell Henley defeats Eric Cole in playoff to capture Charles Schwab Challenge title originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After starting the final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge three shots behind 54-hole leader Eric Cole, Russell Henley stormed back late to earn his first PGA Tour victory of the season in a sudden-death playoff Sunday evening. Henley birdied the final three holes in regulation to tie Cole after 72 holes, and a birdie on the first playoff hole completed the stunning comeback.
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His final round began with an eagle on the 1st hole and a birdie on the 2nd, but four bogeys on the front nine seemed to knock the 37-year-old out of contention. However, the Georgia native wasn’t done yet.
He hit his third shot on the par-5 11th to under five feet and made the birdie putt to move back to even par for the round. A quartet of pars followed on holes 12–15 before Henley’s putter caught fire down the stretch. He drained birdie putts from 15, 15, and 17 feet on holes 16, 17, and 18, respectively, to tie the lead at 12-under overall heading into the clubhouse:
Then came the playoff, a replay of the 18th hole. Henley’s drive found the right side of the fairway, and Cole’s tee shot bounced through the left rough and into the fairway. Henley then stuffed his approach shot to under 5 feet:
Cole’s approach shot ended up 13 feet from the hole, but he missed his birdie putt high, leaving the door open for Henley to capitalize:
It was Henley’s first win since the Arnold Palmer Invitational last March and his sixth overall Tour victory. With the clutch finish, he also improved his career PGA Tour playoff record to 2–1.
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Ben Griffin (last year’s champion), Alex Smalley, and Mac Meissner rounded out the rest of the top five in a three-way tie for third place at 11-under. Other notable names in the field this week at Colonial Country Club included 2025 U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun (finished T6), two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas (T13), 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (T13), and World No. 15 Ludvig Aberg (T17).
The PGA Tour will continue June 4–7 with the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio. It will be the penultimate Signature Event of the 2026 season, and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will look to claim his third straight victory at the tournament.
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