Henley hammers it home to win Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

ORLANDO, Fla. – Russell Henley had been lurking around the top of the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard all week, but it wasn’t until a chip-in eagle from 54 feet Sunday afternoon on the par-5 16th hole that his name finally moved into the top spot.
 
That clutch shot will without a doubt be the one he remembers most when he looks back at his fifth PGA TOUR victory, a career-defining triumph at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge not only because it came in a PGA TOUR Signature Events that featured 45 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, but also because he held off two-time major championship winner Collin Morikawa to accomplish the feat.
 
Henley showed nerves of steel on the back nine Sunday, shaking off a challenging start to his round by birdieing the 12th and 14th holes, then making perhaps the biggest shot of his career on the 16th and parring out. His 11-under par total of 277 was one stroke better than Morikawa and just enough to have him fitted for the iconic red cardigan awarded to the tournament’s winner each year.
 
“Yeah, you know, I’ve grown up watching this event and just seeing all the amazing finishes coming down the stretch, and you never really think you’re going to get that opportunity to come down the 18th and make a par to win,” Henley said. “It’s really just hard to take in right now. It’s a tremendous honor, and that’s what’s so cool about this game, is to go play where all the legends have played.”
 
Henley also took home the winning check of $4 million out of the $20 million purse and earned 700 FedExCup points. He moved to No. 7 in the world ranking.
 
On the par-4 18th, he bombed his drive 310 yards down the left side of the fairway, played it safe with a 156-yard second shot to the middle of the green, leaving himself 42 feet to the back right pin. He then putted to inside of four feet and confidently hammered home the winning par putt before his wife, Tiel, and three young children swarmed him on the green.
 
Sitting in the media center with the Arnold Palmer Invitational trophy in front of him shortly thereafter, he reflected on his eagle chip on 16, recalling how fortunate he was that, on a slick green, his ball hit the pin and fell into the bottom of the cup.
 
“I knew it was probably going to be, I don’t know, 5, 6 feet by, but I don’t know that you can stop it, you know, with any pace right there,” Henley said. “I think Collin hit his a couple feet by. That’s just kind of golf. I mean, sometimes you get a good break like that and it hits the pin and goes in.”
 
Henley was fourth at last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. His victory at Bay Hill this year was his fourth top-10 finish in 2025. After Saturday’s round, he said he felt like he’s playing the best golf he has ever played, and his confidence showed Sunday.
 
“I just feel like you can play some amazing golf and not win,” Henley said. “I mean, Collin played so awesome this week and he didn’t win. That’s just the tough part of this game.
 
“I haven’t really, because I just feel like there’s so many amazing players out here that are so talented, I just, I haven’t really put a lot of pressure on myself to win. I’ve just tried to focus on trying to be really, really good at what I’m good at, try to put myself in the best situation and try to knock on the door as much as I can and get as close to the lead as I can. And kind of have the intent to play to win and put myself in that position, but I haven’t really put a lot of pressure on myself to win, just because I know it’s just so hard.”
 
Corey Conners finished third at 9-under par, and Michael Kim was fourth at 8-under. Jason Day, the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational champion, tied for eighth, two-time API winner Scottie Scheffler toed for 11th,and 2016 winner Rory McIlroy was 15th.