By Jay Betsill
With the limited field WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, the PGA Tour held the Barracuda Championship in Reno simultaneously. While Shane Lowry broke through with his first PGA Tour win at Firestone, J.J. Henry topped Kyle Reifers in a playoff to win at Montreux Golf and Country Club in the PGA Tour’s only modified Stableford event.
“I don’t think there was any point out there that I thought I couldn’t win,” said Lowry, who moved into the top 20 with the big win. “I thought I was right in the driving seat most of the day. I played the golf course quite well.”
By virtue of his third PGA Tour win, the 40-year-old Henry, who lives in Fort Worth, moved from 150th to 76th in the FedEx Cup standings and got a spot in the PGA Championship.
“I just love being here,” Henry said. “The people are great. It’s just a beautiful spot to be this time of year to play golf. I think I figured out how to play out here in the altitude.”
Next up is the season’s final major, the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. According to Golf Channel, defending champion and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy will be returning from his ankle injury to play this week. McIlroy will be playing in a group alongside 2015 major winners Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson.
NOTES
— While J.J. Henry was in the process of winning in Reno, fellow Fort Worth resident Martin Piller put the finishing touches on a four-stroke victory at the Digital Ally Open on the Web.com Tour. As reported by Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the odds of two players from the same town winning PGA Tour-sanctioned events on the same day is 10,000-to-1.
