THE 153RD OPEN

July 19, 2025

Russell Henley

Mixed Zone

Q. First of all, it's the best score today so far of all the players that have taken on the 18. How do you feel about that?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I feel great. Got off to a great start today. I haven't gotten off to the best start the first few. I felt like my game was there the first two days. I just was a little sloppy with iron play or missing on the incorrect side of the hole.

Today was pretty clean. Hit my driver really well, got the ball in the fairway, and was able to hole some putts.

Q. On the 12th hole you got eagle. Tell us what that was like going through that one because that really helped with the scoring.

RUSSELL HENLEY: Starting with the tee shot?

Q. Yes.

RUSSELL HENLEY: That one is tough because the wind is off the left and bunkers are off the right, so you aim in the left rough and trust it. You don't want to overcompensate and hit it left of left. I hit it in one of the bunkers the first or second day, and it's just a tricky, frustrating shot.

Today I hit a great drive down the left side, and it was a downwind second shot. Hit a 6-iron in. We wanted to keep it below the hole, to about 25 feet, and just hit a really solid putt.

Q. Everyone seems to be scoring pretty well today. The weather's been good to you. Tomorrow you could be one of the later groups. How do you feel what the weather is going to be like? It's going to be raining from 3:00 onwards tomorrow? How do you prepare for that?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I played last year when it was really tough conditions. Not to say that that means you're going to do that every time. I just feel like that's what you do when you come over here; you just know it's coming and you should expect it and do the best I can.

Q. Last year in Troon you finished very high there. Was it top 5?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I finished fifth.

Q. Obviously memories from that certainly help you ahead of Sunday.

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, I think it gives me some confidence. I haven't played that well over here. So I feel like I just kind of take some vibes from last year.

Q. What's the course playing like today? It looks like there's a bit of wind out there. There's definitely a score out there today. What's it like out there at the moment?

RUSSELL HENLEY: The wind's down a little bit. It's blowing 10 versus 15 to 20 or whatever. Still some tricky holes, still some really tricky pin locations. Greens are rolling really good. It's warmer. So I think you're going to see guys compress the ball a little bit better and get away with mis-hits a little bit more than when it's cold. Yeah, I think it was just a little more gettable.

Q. You finished fifth last year. How do you prepare yourself overnight for what could be a very special day for you tomorrow?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Just the same as I do every round here. Just kind of know that you're probably going to get some weather and go out and do the best you can.

Q. I don't know if you've seen Shane's two-shot penalty that he got yesterday. What were your thoughts on the sort of ruling around that and what Shane's had to go through?

RUSSELL HENLEY: It's unfortunate. I had to call a penalty on myself at the Travelers, my last tournament. It's just a frustrating part of the game. You don't want your playing competitors to have to have a penalty like that, but it's just tough, and I feel for him.