Pro Golf Now
Fansided

2020 Mayakoba Golf Classic: Top 10 power rankings at El Camaleon

By Mike Randleman

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO - NOVEMBER 18: Brendon Todd of the United States, Harris English of the United States and Vaughn Taylor of the United States walk on the 17th hole during the continuation of the final round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Mayakoba Golf Course on November 18, 2019 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO - NOVEMBER 18: Brendon Todd of the United States, Harris English of the United States and Vaughn Taylor of the United States walk on the 17th hole during the continuation of the final round of the Mayakoba Golf Classic at El Camaleon Mayakoba Golf Course on November 18, 2019 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 11
Next
Oct 25, 2020; Thousand Oaks, California, USA; Russell Henley tees off on the second hole during the Final round of the Zozo Championship golf tournament at Sherwood Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2020; Thousand Oaks, California, USA; Russell Henley tees off on the second hole during the Final round of the Zozo Championship golf tournament at Sherwood Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /

Russell Henley is one of those bubble boys I was talking about in the intro who are seeking to make the leap into the top 50 in the world. He’s been playing the part for several weeks now, but the Official World Golf Rankings take into account the last two years of performance.

Save for a second-place finish at the John Deere Classic, 2019 was fairly uninspiring for the former Georgia Bulldog. Henley’s turned it around in 2020.

The 31 year old has more top-10s (six) than missed cuts (five). He’s made seven cuts in a row entering the Mayakoba Golf Classic with four top-10s in that span. The high water mark was T-3rd at the CJ Cup. Henley’s last time out was his “worst” result in his last eight outings, a T-30th at the RSM Classic.

Henley is making his third visit to El Camaleon. The Georgian posted T-29th (68-69-68-70) in 2018 and MC’d last year. The MC was the first of five in a row at the time, so it’s impressive to see him bounce back the way he is. His MC was only by two shots and was due to an erratic 77 after an opening 66.

Now it’s time to win for the first time since 2017 when he grabbed his third title.

El Camaleon appears to be a good course fit. Henley is way down at the bottom in 2020-21 in driving distance (287.2, 234th) and toward the top in driving accuracy (73.53%, 10th). Henley is also 10th in greens in regulation (74.72%).

The consistency I described is backed up by sitting sixth in scoring average (69.29). I’m not expecting another 77 out of him this time around, even if conditions are tough.

Home/Golf Power Rankings