FT. WORTH – (Wire Service Report) – Russell Henley did some of his most difficult work during Sunday’s final round of the Charles Schwab Challenge to get into a playoff. Yet he still had to put aside his nerves to finish the task. Henley birdied the first playoff hole with a putt from inside 5 feet to defeat Eric Cole and complete a comeback victory in Texas.

“This is why I practice hard … to come back to the playoff and do that, I’m still just kind of shaking,” Henley said. “That was as nervous as I’ve been over a putt in my whole life.”

Henley shot 3-under-par 67 with birdies on the final three holes before beating Cole in the playoff. They were tied at 12-under 268.

Cole, who shot 70 in the fourth round, failed to convert a 13-foot putt for birdie before Henley sank the winning putt when the duo replayed the par-4 No. 18 at Colonial Country Club.

“The putt was good, I hit it pretty much where I was aiming, I just kind of misread it,” Cole said. “I thought it might start breaking left a little earlier.”

Henley, now a six-time winner on the PGA Tour, won for the first time since the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“I think the longer you play this game, the more you want, you want more success and I feel like I’ve just worked harder and harder and I feel like I’ve been a little off just mentally this year, really,” Henley said. “Just feel like I just fought really hard through the end, so it just felt really good to see an awesome result.”

Henley’s round began with an eagle on the par-5 first hole and a birdie on the next hole followed by three consecutive bogeys. He played Nos. 3-9 in 4 over before recovering. His tying birdie putt on No. 18 was from about 16 1/2 feet.

He recalled “feeling a little jittery” on the front side. Then that changed.

“I just kind of calmed down a little bit and started to hit some good shots, and felt like I was hitting good putts most of the day and they just went in at the end,” he said.

Cole, the third-round leader, was bidding for his first victory on the PGA Tour. He had birdies on the first two holes but didn’t maintain the momentum and was hurt by a double bogey at No. 9.

“I was proud with the way I played,” Cole said. “I think I played solid for the most part. I drove the ball pretty well. I just needed to shave a shot somewhere.”

Defending champion Ben Griffin (65), Mac Meissner (69) and Alex Smalley (68) shared third place at 11 under.

Meissner, playing in the last pairing with Cole, needed a birdie on No. 18 to join the playoff. Instead, his second shot ended up in a bunker and he scrambled for par.

Griffin moved into second place by the midway mark of the round, catapulted by playing the front nine in 5 under. He was even par the rest of the way. Griffin’s 65 matched Steven Fisk for the best round of the day.

“I felt like I was going to make a nice run when I woke up this morning,” Griffin said. “My game was trending in the right direction. It’s a course I have experience on and I kind of know what you have to do on Sunday here.”

He nearly rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt on the last hole.

J.J. Spaun (70), Gary Woodland (67), Michael Brennan (68) and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria (68) all tied for sixth place at 10 under.

Brennan pulled into a share of the lead by mid-afternoon, but across his final seven holes, he had three bogeys and two birdies.

Woodland was happy to move into contention.

“I’m excited about where the game is at,” Woodland said. “I definitely didn’t get the most out of it this week, I played a lot better than what I scored, but happy with where it’s at.”

England’s Jordan Smith, who led at the tournament’s midway mark, finished at 8 under and tied for 13th place after a final-round 68.

–Field Level Media

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – Wyndham Clark (1st/-30) won his fourth PGA TOUR title in his 201st start at 32 years, 5 months, 15 days. Clark’s final-round 60 (-11) sets new tournament record for the low final-round score with the previous best, a (61) by Xander Schauffele/2022).

Clark also shot 60 in what was the final round to win the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am (weather reduced to 54 holes).

Clark is one of four players to post 60 or better in the final round en route to victory on record: David Duval/1999 American Express (59), Stuart Appleby/2010 Greenbrier Classic (59), Tommy Gainey/2012 RSM Classic (60), Wyndham Clark/2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (60)* and 2026 CJ CUP Byron Nelson (60): Note *54 holes due to weather.

Clark joined Si Woo Kim (R2/2026 CJ CUP Byron Nelson), Blades Brown (R2/Nicklaus Tournament Course) and Andrew Putnam (R2/La Quinta CC) – both at The American Express – with the lowest round on TOUR this season.

CJ Cup | Final Leaderboard
1 Wyndham Clark 66 63 65 60 254 (-30)

2 Si Woo Kim 64 60 68 65 257 (-27)

3 Scottie Scheffler 66 63 65 65 259 (-25)

4 Jackson Suber 68 61 69 63 261 (-23)

5 Keith Mitchell 64 66 68 64 262 (-22)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – TPC Craig Ranch will host THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson for the sixth time, honoring the legacy of the tournament namesake, the great Byron Nelson, the first PGA TOUR event to be named in honor of a professional golfer.

Nelson had 52 career PGA TOUR wins including a record 18 titles (11 straight) in 1945.

PGA Tour Brunch is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Following Scotties Scheffler’s win in 2025, TPC Craig Ranch underwent a $25 million overhaul, its first major redesign since opening in 2004. Led by renowned course designer and World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, the project features completely redesigned bunkers, resurfaced greens for more pin options, new grass turf, lengthened holes and strategic bunker repositioning to curb low scoring

CJ Group ambassadors in the field include: Pierceson Coody, Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kim, K.H. Lee

Five of the last six champions at THE CJ CUP Bryon Nelson have been international players (Sung Kang/South Korea/2019, K.H. Lee/South Korea/2021-22, Jason Day/Australia/2023, Taylor Pendrith/Canada/2024).

Forty players that competed at last week’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, including top-10 finisher Matti Schmid (T4).

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas

YARDS/PAR: 7,385 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Tom Weiskopf

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $10,300,000/$1,184,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

OVERVIEW: (PGATourCom)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

BYRON NELSON ORGANIZATION: (link)

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MIAMI – Cameron Young (1st/-8) opened with a bogey-free 8-under (64), his first opening bogey-free round since the 2024 Wyndham Championship. The (64) is one-stroke shy of his lowest opening-round score on TOUR (63), most recently at the 2025 Wyndham Championship.

Young holds his fourth 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR with the most recent effort at the 2022 Open Championship where he finished in second place. Overall, he’s 0-for-3 in converting a first round lead to victory.

He needed only 20 putts in round one, the fewest in a round in his TOUR career with the previous being (21) at the 2025 TOUR Championship/R2, 2025 RBC Heritage/R2).

Following a 10-year hiatus, the TOUR returned to Miami and the City of Doral for the inaugural Cadillac Championship (the event does not carry the history of previous PGA TOUR events contested at Doral and is starting fresh). That said, the Cadillac Championship will mark the 56th playing of a TOUR event at the famed Blue Monster having previously hosted the TOUR consecutively from 1962 to 2016.

Following the first round, the field is a collective 53-over on Nos. 17 and 18 at Doral’s Blue Monster while being 79-under on the other 16 holes.

A bright spot: 13-time PGA TOUR winner Jordan Spieth (T2/-7) opens with a 65, his best round on TOUR since the 2025 Wyndham Championship (65/2025 Wyndham Championship/R1); one of 18 have players in the field that previously played a TOUR event held at Doral (2014-2016).

Cadillac Championship | Leaderboard After 18 Holes

1 Cameron Young 64 (-8)

T2 Jordan Spieth 65 (-7)

T2 Alex Smalley 65 (-7)

4 Nick Taylor 66 (-6)

5 Nico Echavarria 67 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Cadillac Championship | Facts

THIS WEEK: Cadillac Championship, Miami, April 30-May 3

COURSE: National Doral, Blue Monster

YARDAGE: Par 72, 7,739 Yards

ARCHITECTS: Dick Wilson & Robert von Hagge

PURSE: $20M (Winner: $3.6M)

FEDEX CUP POINTS: (To Winner): 700

PAST RESULTS: (Inaugural Tournament)

DEFENDING CHAMPION: (Inaugural Event)

FEDEX CUP LEADER: Matt Fitzpatrick

Social Media: X @Cadillac_Champ

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By TERRY LYONS, EDITOR of Digital Sports Desk

AUGUSTA – The 90th edition of The Masters returns to Augusta National Golf Club this week (April 9–12, 2026). As the first major of the year, the tournament carries its usual prestige, but this year’s Masters will be dominated by a historic title defense, a bevy of top-notch challengers, including the World’s #1 player and a field of rising stars.

Top Storylines to Watch

McIlroy’s Encore: After finally capturing the Green Jacket in 2025, Rory McIlroy enters as the defending champion.

Rory McIlroy’s Major Victories

• 2011 – U.S. Open Congressional Country Club 8 strokes
• 2012 – PGA Championship Kiawah Island (Ocean Course) 8 strokes
• 2014 – The Open Championship Royal Liverpool 2 strokes
• 2014 – PGA Championship Valhalla Golf Club 1 stroke
• 2025 – The Masters Augusta National Golf Club in a Playoff

Scheffler’s Dominance: World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler remains the betting favorite. With two Green Jackets already in his closet (2022, 2024), a third win would further cement his era of dominance.

The LIV Contenders: Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau arrive at Augusta in peak form. DeChambeau, in particular, is a focus after back-to-back top-10 finishes at Augusta and recent wins on the LIV circuit.

The 2026 Masters has issued 91 invitees and, they are represented by players from 22 different countries and territories outside the United States. Six of the last 10 major championships have been won by players who were ranked No. 3 or better in the Official World Golf Ranking heading into the major championship.

Preview | The Masters

COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

ARCHITECT: Dr. Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones Jr.; Perry Maxwell in 1937

YARDS/PAR: 7,565 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBD

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Rory McIlroy

OVERVIEW: (link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup The Intimacy Masters

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Master’s Par Three Contest

Wednesday, April 8, 2026 – (All Times Eastern (EDT)

12 Noon to 2:00pm – ESPN+ Streaming

2:00pm to 4:00pm – ESPN

Overall Schedule: Here’s the basic schedule for the entire week, as published by CBS Sports:

2026 Masters | The Basics:

Tournament site: The Masters

Tee Times: (PGATourCom)

Weather: Weather for today’s Par 3 forecast is set for partly cloudy skies, temperatures reaching 68-degrees but winds at 14 mph. Thursday’s forecast is for sunny skies with temperatures reaching 73-degrees but lesser wind (9mph).

The Masters Begins on Prime this Thursday.

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The Field w Update, Tee Times and Leaderboard

The Field: (link)

Update:

Thursday, April 2

Phil Mickelson / WD

Tee Times: (link)

Masters Leaderboard: (link)

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CHAMPIONS’ DINNER MENU

Here’s what Rory McIlroy as in mind for Wednesday Night at Augusta National:

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The Masters ‘26 | Tournament Odds

Odds Courtesy | Betting Hero

Scottie Scheffler +500

Bryson DeChambeau +1000

Jon Rahm +1000

Rory McIlroy +1300

Xander Schauffele +1500

Matt Fitzpatrick +1800

Ludvig Åberg +1800

Cameron Young +2200

Tommy Fleetwood +2200

Hideki Matsuyama +2700

Justin Rose +2700

Robert MacIntyre +3000

Min Woo Lee +3300

Collin Morikawa +3500

Patrick Reed +4000

Brooks Koepka +4000

Chris Gotterup +4500

Russell Henley +4500

Si Woo Kim +4500

Jordan Spieth +4500

Viktor Hovland +5000

Shane Lowry +6000

Nicolai Højgaard +6000

Jake Knapp +6500

Justin Thomas +6500

Akshay Bhatia +6500

Maverick McNealy +6500

Adam Scott +7000

J.J. Spaun +7000

Patrick Cantlay +7000

Sepp Straka +8000

Tyrrell Hatton +8000

Jacob Bridgeman +8000

Jason Day +8000

Sungjae Im +10000

Sam Burns +10000

Harris English +10000

Corey Conners +10000

Cameron Smith +10000

Marco Penge +10000

Daniel Berger +12500

Kurt Kitayama +12500

Gary Woodland +12500

Rasmus Højgaard +15000

Ben Griffin +15000

Keegan Bradley +15000

Aaron Rai +15000

Alex Noren +15000

Ryan Gerard +15000

Sam Stevens +17500

Harry Hall +17500

Wyndham Clark +17500

Aldrich Potgieter +17500

Brian Harman +17500

Max Homa +17500

Ryan Fox +22500

Casey Jarvis +22500

Kristoffer Reitan +22500

Nick Taylor +25000

Dustin Johnson +25000

Nicolas Echavarria +25000

Carlos Ortiz +25000

Michael Kim +25000

Max Greyserman +35000

Sergio Garcia +35000

Haotong Li +35000

Matt McCarty +35000

Andrew Novak +35000

Tom McKibbin +35000

Sami Valimaki +50000

Michael Brennan +50000

Bubba Watson +50000

John Keefer +50000

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +50000

Charl Schwartzel +50000

Zach Johnson +50000

Davis Riley +75000

Angel Cabrera +100000

Mason Howell +100000

Fifa Laopakdee +100000

Ethan Fang +100000

Brian Campbell +100000

Vijay Singh +100000

Jose Maria Olazabal +100000

Brandon Holtz +100000

Naoyuki Kataoka +100000

Danny Willett +100000

Jackson Herrington +100000

Fred Couples +100000

Mateo Pulcini +100000

Mike Weir +100000

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor: Digital Sports Desk

HOUSTON – Forty-one year old Paul Waring (1st/-7), playing on a Major Medical Extension, posted a bogey-free, career-low 7-under (63) to take the lead in the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open. Waring previously shot (65) twice on TOUR, most recently during the first round of the 2025 RBC Canadian Open.

His round included a career-best 161’ 10” of putts made with his previous best: 136’ 9” at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open/R1. Waring leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (5.342) and T1 in Scrambling (4/4). He holds the lead/co-lead for the first time after any round on TOUR

Waring made his second start at Texas Children’s Houston Open (MC/2025; 76-72).

Gary Woodland (2nd/-6) equalled the best opening-round score of his career with a (64) – the seventh occasion for that score and most recently at the 2024 Sanderson Farms Championship).

Woodland is bidding to become the first player to finish runner-up and then win the same tournament the next season since Robert MacIntyre (2023, 2024 Genesis Scottish Open).

Sam Burns (T3/-5) posted a 5-under (65) in his fifth start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open. He had back-to-back T7 finishes at Memorial Park Golf Course in 2020 and 2021.

Defending champion Min Woo Lee (T31/-2) shot a 2-under (68) as he seeks to become the second player to successfully defend a Texas Children’s Houston Open title (Vijay Singh/2005/GC of Houston).

Three of the four past Texas Children’s Houston Open champions in the field sit T11 or better: Stephan Jaeger (T6/-4), Adam Scott (T11/-3), Tony Finau(T11/-3), with Min Woo Lee (T31/-2) further back after 18 holes.

Aaron Rai (neck injury) WD prior to the first round and was replaced by Taylor Moore (T11/-3)

Houston Open Leaderboard | After 18 Holes

1 Paul Waring 63 (-7)

2 Gary Woodland 64 (-6)

T3 Sam Burns 65 (-5)

T3 Michael Brennan 65 (-5)

T3 Tom Hoge 65 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor: Digital Sports Desk

HOUSTON – The Texas Children’s Houston Open is being played in the spring for the third consecutive season after a four-year stint in the Fall from 2019-2022. The tournament is being hosted at Memorial Park Golf Course for the sixth consecutive time after the course underwent a renovation in 2019 led by the Astros Golf Foundation to prepare it for PGA TOUR competition.

This week’s field includes 18 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by No. 10 Chris Gotterup. Thirty players in this week’s field are qualified for the Masters Tournament. The Top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking through the Texas Children’s Houston Open will qualify for the Masters Tournament if not already exempt.

The winners of the next two PGA TOUR events will also qualify for the Masters, if not otherwise exempt. Next week is the Valero Texas Open.

Players in the field between Nos. 40-65 in the OWGR who have not qualified for the Masters: Jake Knapp (No. 42), Nicolai Højgaard (No. 47), Pierceson Coody (No. 51), Michael Thorbjornsen (No. 56), Rickie Fowler (No. 61) and Jordan Smith (No. 65).

Should he go on to qualify, Plano, Texas native Pierceson Coody, grandson of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody, would become the first grandson of a Masters champion to compete in the major tournament. After finishing the 2025 calendar year No. 96 in the world, Coody opened the 2026 season with four consecutive Top-20 finishes, highlighted by back-to-back Top-10s at the Farmers Insurance Open (T2) and WM Phoenix Open (T10).

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Tournament Fact Sheet

THIS WEEK on the PGA Tour: Texas Children’s Houston Open

COURSE: Memorial Park Golf Course, Houston, Texas

TOURNAMENT SITE: (link)

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)

HOUSTON OPEN PAST RESULTS: (link)

ARCHITECT: John Bredemus

YARDS/PAR: 7,475 yards/Par 70

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,900,000/$1,782,000

DEFENDING Champion: Min Woo Lee

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

PALM HARBOR – Matt Fitzpatrick (1st/-11) birdied the 72nd hole to win by one stroke for his third PGA TOUR title in his 183rd start at 31 years, 6 months, 21 days. Before the final round, Fitz had never birdied the 18th hole at this event in 11 previous rounds.

He now has three PGA TOUR wins: The 2022 U.S. Open, 2023 RBC Heritage, 2026 Valspar Championship.

Fitzpatrick won 500 FedExCup points to move from No. 8 to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings.

He was the only player to shoot four rounds in the 60s this week and he carded only four bogeys for the week, the fewest of any player in the field. Included with that fact was another amazing feat: He was bogey-free for his last 36 holes to become the third winner of this event to record a bogey-free final round (2012 Luke Donald, 2013 Kevin Streelman).

Fitzpatrick finished runner-up at last week’s PLAYERS Championship, bogeying the final hole to lose to Cameron Young by one stroke. The last player to finish runner-up then win the following week was Davis Thompson (2024 Rocket Classic/T2, 2024 John Deere Classic/Won).

Fitzpatrick joined Luke Donald (2012) and Paul Casey (2018, 2019) as players from England to win the Valspar Championship, and Fitz was the 11th international player to win this event.

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Valspar Championship | Final Leaderboard

1 Matt Fitzpatrick 68 69 68 68 273 (-11)

2 David Lipsky 69 65 70 70 274 (-10)

3 Jordan Smith 69 68 72 66 275 (-9)

T4 Three players 276 (-8)

Final Leaderboard: (link)

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