FORT WORTH, Texas — Of the many names playing the Charles Schwab Challenge this week at Colonial Country Club, there is big one missing.
(No, it’s not Phil. Not Tiger.)
J.J. Henry is not Phil or Tiger, but he is without peer in terms of loyalty to Fort Worth, TCU and the PGA Tour event played at Colonial.
J.J. Henry wants to be there.
J.J. Henry should be there.
And, although the tournament does not start until Thursday morning, the longtime PGA Tour pro, Fort Worth staple and TCU alum did not make the cut.
This is one of those correctable situations that needs a better ending.
Henry should have one more shot to play Colonial, and go out by being able to thank friends and supporters who have been around him for his more than 20 years on the PGA Tour.
Charles Schwab Challenge directors made the decision not to use one of the 12 potential spots to invite Henry to play in the tournament; it has 10 exemptions, and two more openings were created when other players who had committed dropped out.
The decision ended a string of more than 20 straight years of Henry in the field.
Henry is not pouting. But he is disappointed.
“This is not a sour grapes deal at all, so don’t take it as that but I am disappointed,” Henry said in a phone interview on Wednesday morning. “I wanted to play this year. I know I am not a kid any more, and I can’t drive it the way these young guys can but this course is much better for my game.
“I have not retired yet. This is my job. This is my passion. I love golf. I love Fort Worth. I love Colonial. I absolutely wanted to play.”
Charles Schwab tournament director Michael Tothe did not respond to the Star-Telegram for comment.
Henry tried to downplay all of this, but not playing Colonial clearly got to him.
He reached out to event organizers to basically ask for some help to be added to the field.
“Listen, I want to be real clear about this — they have helped me before,” Henry said. “I fully realize and appreciate that. In my opinion, though, this is still tough to swallow.”
By “help” he means Henry has been added to the field as an exemption.
What he wanted was a chance to “go out my own way, and go out on my own terms,” he said.
All pro athletes want to go out that way; 99.9% don’t get that chance.
Most careers abruptly end.
Golf, however, is the one pro sport where an exit can be massaged a bit so a finale is not a phone call from an agent who says, “Sorry, man. Nobody’s interested.”
Henry is not naive. He’s not selling himself as a top-10 player in the world, which many years ago he was.
Henry, 47, lost his full status PGA Tour card two years ago. He has played in three tour events since October and missed the cut in all three.
The game has dramatically changed, and it favors younger players.
He is an involved family man and dad who has other ventures to maintain.
He planned to play the 2022 CS Challenge with his son, Connor, serving as his caddie; BTW, Connor Henry is a high school junior, and an exceptional golfer himself who is currently being recruited by some of the nation’s top college programs.
J.J. plans to play a few more tour events in 2022. He is contemplating joining the PGA Champions Tour when it’s time, but that’s not for a few more years.
What he wants is a more formal final attempt to play the course, and the tournament, that he clearly adores.
“Because this is my home course I think I always put too much pressure on myself to play well there and I never had the finish that I really wanted there,” he said. “When I played last year I made the cut, which I felt really good about.
“If I am broken down, and my back is gone, and my game is just terrible I can accept that. I am 47. I get it. I still can play, and I still want to play.”
Because it’s J.J. Henry, the request is reasonable and should be accommodated.
Give him one more shot.
