Russell Henley’s birdie run wins the Charles Schwab Challenge playoff
Russell Henley won at Arnie’s Place. Now he’s won at Hogan’s Alley.
Henley shocked the Charles Schwab Challenge field Sunday with birdies on each of the final three holes to qualify for a playoff, followed by a fourth straight birdie to take home the win.
A year ago, Henley’s eagle on the 16th hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational wrested the title from Collin Morikawa. It felt much the same Sunday at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, the place where legendary Ben Hogan was a member.
Henley started the day in a tie for fifth and in the next-to-last group, and vaulted up the leaderboard with an eagle-birdie start. But four bogeys on the rest of the front nine wrecked his momentum, and he was three shots back of leader Eric Cole with three holes to go.
Henley made a pair of 15-foot birdie putts and one on No. 18 from 16 feet to get to 12 under par. After a short wait for Cole to finish, the pair went back to the 18th tee box for the playoff.
Cole, still seeking his first PGA Tour win, got a huge stroke of luck when his drive found a path through limbs and rolled some 30 yards farther than his shot had in regulation. But Henley, sitting in the fairway with 135 yards to go, hit an approach shot to inside 5 feet.
When Cole missed his 13-foot birdie putt, Henley made his to grab the Charles Schwab Challenge win.
“I just kept telling myself I want to win, I want to be here, I want to be hitting these putts and be in contention. This is why I practice hard. Yeah, to come back in the playoff and do that, I’m still kinda shaking. That’s as nervous as I’ve been over a putt in my life,” Henley told CBS after the win.
Conquering Colonial 🏆
Russell Henley is perfect in the playoff @CSChallengeFW. pic.twitter.com/CTLq0KreU6
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 31, 2026
Henley went 66-66-69-67 over the four rounds.
The 37-year-old had already played on a Presidents Cup team, but he used that 2025 win at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., to vault himself onto the Ryder Cup team. Though he acknowledged he’s felt off mentally this year, his form has been strong with three top-10 finishes, including a tie for third at the Masters.
He’s likely to be on another Presidents Cup team in the fall, and showed grit in winning the way he did Sunday, after Cole had held off all other challengers on a bunched-up leaderboard.
Cole, 37, is the son of former PGA Tour and LPGA players Bobby Cole and Laura Baugh. When an illness (and subsequent diagnosis for both type 1 diabetes and Addison’s disease) cost him the start of his college career, Cole decided to try out the Minor League Golf Tour in his native Florida. He won an incredible 56 times from 2009 to 2023 but struggled to get through Q School.
He finally broke through on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2021, earned his PGA Tour card for 2023 and was named the Rookie of the Year for a season that included a playoff loss to Chris Kirk at the Honda Classic and five other top-10 finishes.
A round of 63 on Saturday vaulted Cole into the lead and set up what felt like a breakthrough Sunday. Birdies on each of the first two holes suggested Cole was ready for the moment, though the good times did not last — a bogey on No. 4 was a stumble, and a double bogey on the par-4 ninth threatened to derail the operation.
Cole straightened his game out with a birdie and eight pars on the back nine. But he could not find the extra birdie to avoid Henley.