Russell Henley ran wild around East Lake Golf Club in the first round of the 2025 Tour Championship, and in the process, he ran to the top of the leaderboard in the final leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The Georgia native carded seven birdies and an eagle against no dropped shots to piece together a flawless 9-under 61, commanding a two-stroke lead over world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and a three-stroke lead over Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Robert MacIntyre through the first 18 holes of the season finale.
Henley made 207 feet of putts in his opening refrain, the most of his PGA Tour career and the largest distnce at East Lake since 2004, according to Justin Ray. He knocked in putts from 42 feet, 45 feet and 37 feet — plus nine other efforts from outside 5 feet — en route to gaining more than five strokes with the putter and just about six total strokes on the field.
“I just felt like I was at peace if I missed. I felt like I was clear on my reads,” Henley said. “Last week, I felt like I played really well and didn’t give myself a bunch of looks because I couldn’t figure out how far the ball was going and struggled a little bit on the looks of those greens, getting the reads down.
“Just felt a little more clear in my mind on what I thought the ball was going to do and just felt like, yeah, at peace if I missed it. Just kind of free-wheeled it a little bit.”
The world No. 4 started his day with four straight pars before he caught fire on the dance floor. Henley put 10 3s on his scorecard over his next 14 holes, including an eagle on the par-5 6th and back-to-back 3s on Nos. 16-17, the latter of which made more than a fair share of players look foolish. One last conversion from inside 12 feet on the last made his personal-best day on the greens official, putting the finishing touches on a career-low round.
Henley’s consistency has long made him a worthy FedEx Cup contender, but there is still a long way to go in Atlanta with 54 holes remaining against the tightest, strongest field on the PGA Tour this season. Henley stands in front of a clustered chasing pack filled with major champions and big-time winners, including the man he teamed up with at last year’s Presidents Cup (and presumably will at next month’s Ryder Cup, too) in Scheffler.
The reigning FedEx Cup champion was up to his usual business Thursday alongside three-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy. Scheffler started with three birdies in his first six holes before he picked off a couple more as he meandered through his round.
Scheffler was coasting until the end and showed off what separates himself from the rest of the world. Missing his first fairway on No. 16 and settling in hypothetical jail behind a tree, he short sided himself with his second. Taking his medicine and chipping the ball 25 feet beyond the pin, the world No. 1 rolled in his par putt to keep his card clean of any mistakes.
A connection from a similar range came calling on the next hole, but this time for birdie as Scheffler stormed down the hill towards the clubhouse as the skies darkened behind him with potential rains. Taking advantage of the par-5 finisher, the four-time major champion finished with a 63 — his 18th straight round in the 60s — just the latest tournament day ending with his name near the top of the leaderboard.
The leader
1. Russell Henley (-9): Henley finished the 2024 Tour Championship with final-round 62 and picked up where he left off Thursday at East Lake. The Arnold Palmer Invitational winner went about his round in a way that is not seen too often on the PGA Tour these days. He ranked last in terms of driving distance but consistently found the short grass and took his chances when he had them. It was a round that perfectly encapsulated who Henley is as a player as he never tried to chew off too much and the birdies kept on flying when he found the stroke with the putter.
“I felt like with it being lift, clean and place and somewhat soft compared to last year when the greens were brand new, it was a little bit softer, so it was just a little bit more gettable,” he said.
Contenders
2. Scottie Scheffler (-7)
T3. Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood (-6)
T8. Akshay Bhatia, Ludvig Åberg, Ben Griffin, Rory McIlroy (-4)
It felt like everyone was making putts in Round 1, but that could not be more true for someone like Morikawa. Experiencing a brutal summer with the putter, the two-time major champion credited some early week work on the greens en route to gaining just about three strokes with the flat stick Thursday. It has positioned the two-time major champion to capture his second top 10 since The Players and perhaps his first win in nearly two years.
“Speed, a lot of speed. It’s tough because I look back at the last two weeks and I made nothing,” Morikawa said. “But I look at this week and the last two days, I’ve worked so much on trying to match up my speed to my feel. It’s so interesting, when I palm my putter, my speed is impeccable yet I lose a little bit of control. And I’m not going to palm my putter to go and putt out there just because I felt like if I pushed or pulled a putt it would kind of lose that.
“So, it was just how do I match that speed to what I’m seeing. It’s just being able to look at the putt in maybe a slightly different view, but grain helps out here a lot for me, which is really nice.”
Could a first-timer win the FedEx Cup?
Of the 30 players who qualified for the Tour Championship, 12 of them did so without having won a tournament all season. Instead relying on consistency, this crop of competitors has a chance to win just one tournament in 2025 — the biggest regulation event of the season. Morikawa, Cantlay, MacIntyre and Fleetwood are all on the first page of the leaderboard, but it also other outsiders are similarly playing well through 18 holes. Bubble boy Akshay Bhatia, who got into the Tour Championship thanks to Viktor Hovland making a birdie on the 72nd hole at the BMW Championship, started strong with a 66. Jacob Bridgeman also occupies a place inside the top 10 looking for not only his first win this year but the first of his career.
2025 Tour Championship updated odds, picks
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
- Scottie Scheffler: 1-1
- Russell Henley: 4-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 11-1
- Rory McIlroy: 14-1
- Justin Thomas: 16-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 16-1
- Collin Morikawa: 20-1
- Robert MacIntyre: 22-1
- Ludvig Åberg: 28-1
Only nine players are listed under 30-1 after 18 holes of play as Scheffler surged to even money after starting the week just short of 2-1. Let’s be honest: He is probably going to win this tournament. With Henley and Fleetwood already in the back pocket, let’s add another bullet to our chamber with that being McIlroy at 14-1. The world No. 2 was largely terrific outside of a few sloppy moments coming home, but he caught a break on the last to make birdie and trail Scheffler by only three with as many rounds to play.
