Sunday, May 8, 2011

Henley Wins Stadion Classic

GOLF

Georgia's Russell Henley won the Stadion Classic at UGA on Sunday, becoming just the second amateur to win on the Nationwide Tour.

Henley, who received a sponsor's exemption as the Dawg with the lowest number of strokes this season, joins Daniel Summerhays (2007) as amateurs with Nationwide Tour wins. Rickie Fowler and Charles Howell III came in second and Sergio Garcia took third as amateurs in Nationwide events.

"This is a dream come true for me," the senior from Macon said. "Just getting to play in this golf tournament was a tremendous opportunity, and to win it means the world to me. My goal is to be a professional golfer, and this reinforces to me that I can compete at the professional level."

Henley shot a final-round 3-under 68 to finish at 12-under 272 -- two shots better than Troy Kelly. As an amateur, Henley is not eligible to receive the $99,000 winning share.

"We could not be prouder of Russell," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "It was exciting watching him play this weekend, and I could see his confidence getting higher and higher each day. He's a special young man with all the potential in the world."

Henley's Georgia teammate, senior Harris English came in 18th with a final tally of 4-under 280, including a 3-under 68 on Sunday. Former Dawgs Brendon Todd ((68, 282) and Brian Harman (70, 283) came in 31st and 39th, respectively.

No comments:

Post a Comment