Russell Henley birdied four straight holes, stunned Eric Cole in a Colonial playoff and claimed the Charles Schwab Challenge.
FORT WORTH — Russell Henley looked dead in the water at Colonial. Then he turned Hogan’s Alley into a closing stretch ambush.
Henley won the Charles Schwab Challenge on Sunday at Colonial Country Club, chasing down Eric Cole with three straight birdies to end regulation before drilling one more on the first playoff hole.
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The final dagger was a 5-footer on No. 18, giving Henley his sixth PGA Tour victory and one of the wildest finishes Fort Worth has seen in a while.
This wasn’t some quiet Sunday stroll. Henley shot a closing 3-under 67, finished at 12 under and ripped the tournament away late after sitting three shots back following a par save at No. 15.
From there, he caught fire.
He birdied the par-3 16th from 15 feet, added another birdie at the 17th, then buried a 17-footer at the 18th to force the playoff.
Cole, who had led all day, couldn’t answer with a birdie on the extra hole and watched his best shot at a first PGA Tour win slip away.
Cole closed with an even-par 70 and finished regulation tied with Henley, but his back nine was more survival than attack.
He made key pars, including a strong save from a fairway bunker at No. 12, but he couldn’t find the one more birdie that would’ve ended the drama.
That’s the cruelty of Colonial. It doesn’t care how long you’ve held the lead. It only cares who survives the last swing.
Henley walked away with the plaid jacket, $1.78 million and a customized 1982 Jeep Scrambler.
Cole walked away with another brutal lesson in how thin the line is between breakthrough and heartbreak. In his 120th PGA Tour start, he was right there.
Ben Griffin nearly made his own history. A week after winning, Griffin shot 65 and finished at 11-under 269, tied with Alex Smalley and Mac Meissner.
He had a 50-footer lip out at 18 that nearly turned the finish into total chaos.
Ben Hogan remains the only player to win back-to-back at Colonial.
Henley, though, owned this Sunday. After an odd round that included an eagle-birdie start, three straight bogeys through the Horrible Horseshoe and a bogey at No. 9, he never bailed.
He just kept punching until Colonial finally blinked.
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