There is an argument that Russell Henley and Bryson DeChambeau are going to be two of the most important players, after Scottie Scheffler, on Keegan Bradley’s team for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black this week.
Bryson DeChambeau has become one of the world’s best players in recent years. He will be making his first appearance in the Ryder Cup since 2021.
Russell Henley, meanwhile, may be the oldest member of Keegan Bradley‘s team, but the 36-year-old is one of four rookies in the ranks. Having said that, it is hard to imagine that the size of the stage will get to Henley.
Henley proved to be a brilliant partner for Scottie Scheffler at Royal Montreal at last year’s Presidents Cup. And many think how Scheffler and Henley fare in the coming days will have a big say in whether Team USA regain the Samuel Ryder trophy.
But DeChambeau is also going to be integral.
Russell Henley issues his verdict on being teammates with Bryson DeChambeau at the Ryder Cup
An impressive showing at Bethpage would arguably complete the redemption arc for the 32-year-old, who had a tendency to rub his peers up the wrong way in the early stages of his career.
However, the US team have embraced DeChambeau this week. And speaking to the media ahead of the opening session, Henley explained what his relationship with the Crushers captain is like.
“Yeah, obviously a great player. Explosive is a great word for how he plays. I’ve just really enjoyed Bryson. Bryson, after Greensboro in 2021 maybe, I was leading the tournament, and I choked it away, and the next week or the two weeks after, I saw him in Baltimore at Caves Valley, and he walked up and said — he goes, hey, man, keep your head up, that happens to everybody, you’re playing some great golf, and just encouraged me. I’ll always remember that,” he said.
“Obviously haven’t played a lot of golf with him the last couple years, but I’ve always enjoyed Bryson, and it’s been really cool getting to pick his brain this week.
“I think we operate a lot differently on the golf course, and he plays a lot different game than I do, so sitting with him last night at dinner it was cool getting to ask him what he’s been doing in the practice rounds and stuff. He’s just a great teammate. It’s been cool.”
He added: “He just said he appreciated me bringing [what he said at Caves Valley] up. He meant it, and yeah, it’s just cool to receive encouragement from a player of his calibre. Typically you don’t really know what to say when you see a guy kind of choke in a tournament, but it was cool. He worded it in a way that was encouraging to me, so it was cool.”
Why Bryson DeChambeau deserves so much credit for his encouraging words to Russell Henley
DeChambeau’s comments to Henley were particularly impressive given that he was going through a difficult time, with many fans revelling in his feud with Brooks Koepka.
In fact, DeChambeau dealt with a lot of heckling that week at the BMW Championship as he lost out on the title in a playoff with Patrick Cantlay.
DeChambeau lost his cool with a fan who mocked him after the playoff, instructing security to escort him off the property.
So the fact that DeChambeau was still able to go out of his way earlier in the week to try and offer his support to Henley says a lot about his character, particularly as it is Henley who has publicised the interaction four years later.
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