Breakfast Ball #61: Sergio Puts His Hat in the Race for Bethpage

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Russell Henley Beats Collin Morikawa to the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Russell Henley won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one shot over fellow American Collin Morikawa for the biggest victory of his career to date.

Morikawa looked in control for most of Sunday’s final round, carrying a three-shot lead into the 14th hole over Russell Henley and Canada’s Corey Conners. The 210-yard par-3 14th was the toughest test of the day, playing 0.27 strokes over par on average. Morikawa’s tee shot came up short, and he failed to get up and down for par, while Henley seized the moment, sticking his approach to ten feet and draining the birdie putt to cut the lead to one.

After both players carded pars on the 15th, they stepped onto the par-5 16th—the easiest hole on the course, playing 0.67 strokes under par. Morikawa found a bunker off the tee, forcing a layup with his second shot and ultimately settling for par. Henley, meanwhile, found the greenside rough with his second shot but delivered a brilliant chip-in eagle to take a one-shot lead. From there, he never looked back.

Morikawa couldn’t close the gap over the final two holes, while Henley sealed the win with two steady pars, claiming the red cardigan in style. One of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour, Henley has maintained a spot in the top 20 of the world rankings for the past year but had been searching for his first victory since late 2022. A member of last year’s U.S. Presidents Cup team, this triumph should be the catalyst that finally earns him a long-awaited Ryder Cup debut in September.

European Results:

• Sepp Straka continued his good run of form with a top 5 finish after starting the week with a 77

  • The Austrian has now posted 7 top 20 results in 9 events in 2025, including his win at the American Express

• Shane Lowry led the tournament after two rounds, but a 76 on Saturday ruled him out of contention and he ended in 7th

• Justin Rose put his sponsor’s exemption into the tournament to good use and placed in a tie for 8th

• Tommy Fleetwood, Aaron Rai, Rory McIlroy, and Bob MacIntyre all came in the top 20

Sergio Garcia Sends Luke Donald a Message with a Win at LIV Hong Kong

Luke Donald.. Are you watching?

Sergio Garcia claimed his second LIV Golf title in dominant fashion, shooting a final-round 63 to win LIV Hong Kong by three strokes over Dean Burmester. Garcia set the tone early with an eagle on the third hole, then caught fire with four consecutive birdies from the 8th to the 11th, allowing him to comfortably close out the victory.

He didn’t waste any time letting the Ryder Cup captain know about it.

“I think he’s watching. We’ve been in touch, so I know that he’s keeping an eye. The only thing I can do is keep playing good golf, and I just want to help the European team like I’ve tried to do every single time I’ve been a member of that team, and hopefully he will think I’m good enough for it.”

More performances like this will help his case.

Sergio is the all-time leading Ryder Cup points scorer and reportedly settled over €1M in fines to rejoin the DP World Tour late last year, granting him the eligibility needed to be selected as a captain’s pick in September. If he did make the team he would equal the European appearance record, currently held by Lee Westwood and Nick Faldo with 11.

While a LIV win is certainly a move in the right direction, Garcia will almost definitely need to perform well in the majors to have a real chance of making the team. He has missed the cut in four of his last six major appearances, but did have an impressive T12 finish at the US Open last year. This win will give him a much better chance of qualifying for all of the majors, with both the Open and the US Open granting places to LIV Golf players this year.

Garcia’s Fireballs GC also took home the team title, finishing a single shot ahead of Stinger GC. Paul Casey was fifth, while teammates Tom McKibbin and Jon Rahm ended in a tie for sixth.

Other news and results from the golfing world:

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Calum Hill won the Joburg Open on the DP World Tour in a three-way playoff

  • The Scotsman started the final day eight strokes behind the leader but shot a final round 62 and made a par on the second playoff hole to take the title

  • This was Hill’s second victory on the DP World Tour and his first since 2021

• 🥵 Keegan Bradley was surprised that a speech he made to the American team at the President’s Cup made the cut in Netflix’s latest installment of Full Swing, the behind the scenes documentary covering golf

  • Bradley said that Team USA was “gonna go to Bethpage and kick their fu—ing ass.” That quote is going straight on Luke’s bulletin board

  • Admittedly I have only watched the first two episodes, but if you are a golf fan it is well worth a watch

• ⏩️ 23-year-old Australian Karl Vilips won the Puerto Rico Open, an opposite field event on the PGA Tour

  • This was Vilips’ fourth start on the PGA Tour after graduating from Stanford last November

  • 🇩🇰 Rasmus-Neergaard Petersen came in second place in his first PGA Tour start

Coming up on tour this week:

• 🏌️ The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass - one of the best events on the golfing calendar

  • 25 Europeans are in the field, including Laurie Canter who is the first former LIV player to play in an event run by the PGA Tour

• 🇸🇬 LIV Golf moves onto its next event in Singapore

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