THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 24, 2024

Russell Henley

Royal Montreal Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. What's your role? What are you the MVP of this week? Team room guy?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I don't do a ton of trash talking. I feel like I'm trying to just bring a really positive attitude to everything we're doing. I'm really excited and thankful to be here, to be around the guys and learn from them, and just try to be an encourager.

Q. Is there a particular piece of advice from someone about this experience that stuck out to you going into your first one?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Keegan told me the start of the week, he said just enjoy it. The time you get with the guys at these dinners and on the bus and just hanging out is just -- you just don't get that in a normal week. You'll enjoy these times much more than the golf.

Q. Getting in this first one, do you feel like there's a sense of gratitude you feel?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, absolutely. 12th year on tour, to make a team is pretty cool. I feel like I -- I kind of feel like I deserve it a little bit more. Versus a few years ago, I kind of would -- even if I was close, like last year, I kind of wouldn't have felt like I really deserved to be on the team.

So it's pretty cool to feel like I'm one of the guys and finally make one, yeah.

Q. You're a Korn Ferry Tour alumni. What was your favorite memory from the ceremony?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Korn Ferry? From the ceremony? I don't know, I guess a sense of accomplishment of getting your PGA TOUR card. I'll always remember, it's like you grow up as a kid kind of dreaming like, is this going to happen? I don't know. I know I can play golf, but am I ever going to get my card.

Just to finally hold your PGA TOUR card is pretty special.

Q. I have a couple of fun ones if you don't mind. Who is someone on your team that you're jealous of their swing?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Jealous of their swing? Probably Collin Morikawa. To me he kind of seems like a robot. I feel like he just -- his swing looks identical every time. It's the same tempo. It's the same setup. It looks like he hits the ball the exact same way every time. I've just always admired the way he does it.

Q. Who's most likely to be late on your team?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Most likely to be late? Probably Sam Burns. He was late this morning. He makes a lot of team mistakes. You can tell him I said that.

Q. Talk about feeling like you're at the point where you deserve it. By the stats the last couple years, you're one of the best ball strikers on TOUR. You're right up there. Is there a point where you felt like one of the best players in the world? Do you feel that?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I think I've been building that confidence the last couple years especially. And especially this year, as I've started to play well in the big events, play well in the Signature Events, play well on courses that really aren't made for me -- like finishing 10th at Quail Hollow, and the course is extremely long with very hard greens, and I'm kind of a lowball hitter and don't hit it as far as a lot of these guys. So I've started to feel that I can do it on courses that aren't set up for me.

So, yeah, it's kind of been building, and definitely this year has kind of helped me make the jump with my most consistent play in the majors too.

Q. Outside of golf, if I say Canada to you, give me two or three things you think of.

RUSSELL HENLEY: I played the Porter Cup every year as an amateur. I visited Canada a couple times, went to Niagara Falls and did that. So that's my experience with Canada pretty much. I remember we could see Toronto, I think, from the back porch of the golf club there. I just love being up there.

Yeah, those are the first couple things that I think of. Then also just like hockey and things like that.

Q. How did it feel to finally get rewarded?

RUSSELL HENLEY: It's been surreal. I mean, I definitely feel like I've put in the work, and I feel like I've worked on all the right things. Over the last five or six years, I feel like I've started to do things the right way.

Then to get the call that I was in, it's just kind of like -- I'm still trying to kind of wrap my head around it because it's so hard. It's so hard, and it just gets harder out here, I feel like. Yeah, it's been a dream come true.

Q. This may be a dumb question, but it's not like you weren't (indiscernible). Do you feel like anything made a difference to finally get here?

RUSSELL HENLEY: More top 10s this year. Played a little better in the Signature Events. Played better in the majors. I think those are the things they're looking at.

Yeah, I feel like I gave myself a chance to win at The Open. Had a solid U.S. Open. Had played well at places like Bay Hill and Charlotte.

I just think the combination of all those things gave me a better shot.

Q. Sorry about the loss of your father. (Question about his passing and going to The Open.)

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, he passed away the Friday after The Open, and before The Open, he was really sick. We were trying to get him squared away, and he was struggling and fighting, and he just said, you're going to The Open. I'm like, Dad -- we were trying to make sure. He was like, no, you're going to The Open. He was set on it. He just kept coming back to.

He was an extremely tough man, and I miss him a lot, but it's been a roller coaster year. It definitely is just hard in general, but I think he would want this for me.

Q. (No microphone)?

RUSSELL HENLEY: So the Friday after The Open.

Q. You were saying before you left.

RUSSELL HENLEY: Before I left, he was getting really sick. He was battling the last couple of years, so I don't know if I've just gotten used to being sad about it. It's been a battle.

Q. Was golf a bond for you guys?

RUSSELL HENLEY: He loved watching me play. He's been watching me play until he couldn't watch anymore because he was just too sick. But he was there.

Q. Can I ask what he was suffering from?

RUSSELL HENLEY: He had heart failure and leukemia.

Q. We were looking at it seems like 100 to 115 in this week, so short iron shots in, that's something that you thrive at. Have they talked to you about that being a way for you to contribute?

RUSSELL HENLEY: We have a bunch of stat guys, but they haven't talked to me a ton about that.

Q. Do they shield you from it?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, I don't really look at it too much, but they've all just encouraged me to play my game. Play how I want to play it and play how I'm comfortable.

Q. A better way to ask it is what are your thoughts on the course?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I didn't know what to expect, but it's definitely just a bunch of drivers for me. I think there's one or two holes where I might hit less. It's just a bunch of drivers. I'm comfortable with my driver, and the greens are great.

I feel like there's a lot of little ridges in the greens I'm not used to seeing on a lot of courses that's just different. Yeah, I really like it. I think it's very fair. It's pretty much in front of you. I think it's fun.

Q. It's obvious that your team has lots of chemistry, and I asked Sam the same question. If you're out today and tomorrow and you're playing with someone and something seems to click, could you go to Captain Furyk and say hey, or has it already been predetermined who's going to play with whom?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Good question. They told me from the start to bring any concerns or anything I want to talk to them about. I've been pretty open with them about everything so far.

I don't know that many guys have come to him with concerns like that yet. We've been practicing with different guys, different groups every day, and I think we're just all very comfortable with each other. I don't know if that would be a big enough reason to change as much as just trusting that they have done the research and know how to put us together.

Q. It sounds like you could play with anybody any given day, but you're all ready to go?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I think so. Everybody's really good, just like on their team. I think everybody can play with everybody.

Q. Do you work on analytics a lot in terms of team playing on the golf course?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I don't. For me personally -- and I've called Jim, or captain Jim over the years asking him questions about golf. I've tried to model my game kind of like his in a lot of ways. He's always talking about being comfortable, and he says that some days he might feel comfortable hitting driver off one tee, and another day he might feel more comfortable hitting the hybrid.

He says he always believed that doing what he felt comfortable with is really important. For analytics, there might be a hole that says push it up there as far as you can, but I don't feel comfortable with the way it looks.

So for the most part, I'm pretty consistent on how I play courses, but there's a lot of changes to be made based off weather and how I'm feeling, and I try to listen to those things.

Q. Do you follow the stats much in terms of where you might rank in a certain category and say, hey, if I can even move up ten spots in this statistical category, that would make a huge difference for me?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yes. So a couple years ago, I was like last in putting. I was really high. I knew I needed to make a big change there. In terms of every four feet, five feet, six feet, all those different categories, I don't look at it as much as the overall, have I gotten better? Let's keep doing that.

Q. What is your favorite thing about America?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Favorite thing about America.

Q. You can go any direction.

RUSSELL HENLEY: We're just so free in America to work as hard as we want and create businesses or do anything we want to do. Save our money. Spend our money. And in a really, really safe place. There's so many positives to think of, but that freedom is amazing.

Q. Who's the funniest guy on the team? A couple guys said you.

RUSSELL HENLEY: Oh, really? Let's see here. Probably Sam Burns.