Consistency is a skill. If a player is highly talented but erratic, it’s generally a sign that the golfer isn’t as polished and well-rounded as their peers. Wins dominate headlines, but more often than not, big-time wins follow periods of sustained consistency. Prior to breaking out in 2024 and winning the first two major championships of his career, Xander Schauffele posted a steady drip of T-4s and T-9s, with very few T-39s and T-42s mixed in between. Similarly, the two golfers in the mix throughout the majority of Sunday afternoon – Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa – have both been stacking top fives over the last 14 months in the leadup to this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Despite trailing Morikawa by three with five to play, Henley ultimately got the job done, chipping in for eagle on No. 16 to seize the lead en route to claiming his first win since the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba. The API marks the biggest career win for Henley, who may have stood to benefit as much from a legitimate top-tier win as any golfer in the sport.

Much like Morikawa, Henley is a highly accurate driver of the golf ball who lacks top-end ball speed, cruising in the ball speed range of 165-168 mph. Unlike Morikawa, Henley doesn’t have a reputation for winning big golf tournaments or performing consistently well in major championships, leading to frequent social media jokes that Henley is allergic to winning. Sunday’s experience should help Russell, who admitted to feeling nerves down the stretch, when he inevitably contends in high-profile tournaments again in the future.

After the win, the 35-year-old is in a prime position to compete in his first Ryder Cup after being arguably the biggest snub of the 2023 Ryder Cup selection process. His omission didn’t receive the attention that Keegan Bradley’s received, but the case for Henley in 2023 was strong. Barring a disastrous performance decline over the next few months, Henley will be even harder to deny in 2025.

Henley’s late-career performance surge is another example of how every golfer’s career arc unfolds uniquely. After 32 major championship appearances without a top-10 finish, Henley has posted three top 10s in his last eight major starts. He was also one of five golfers to both finish with at least two top 10s and make the cut in all four majors in 2024 – Scheffler, Schauffele, Morikawa, and Shane Lowry were the other four. Decent company! Winning tends to follow consistency, and consistency tends to follow hard work. There aren’t many better examples to point to than Russell Henley.

Elsewhere in top player API results, Morikawa played an underwhelming closing nine to finish as runner-up. On a positive note, following his Saturday round, he told reporters his iron play hasn’t felt this strong since 2021 – a year in which he won three times, including the Open Championship.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished T-11 despite losing more than five strokes putting for the week. I’m pretty sure I’ve written that sentence before.

As for the golf course…it was Bay Hill. Arnie’s Place shouldn’t win any awards in the design category, but at least the golf course requires players to hit long irons into firm greens where missing in the wrong spots results in a severe penalty. Those are appealing characteristics of a professional golf test that don’t show up as often as they should. Evidently, however, long irons show up too often on the PGA Tour for Lucas Glover’s liking. Weak stuff, Lucas!

DJ’s Retirement Tour Visits Hong Kong

Death, taxes, and Fireballs triumphing in Hong Kong. Over on LIV, 45-year-old Sergio Garcia pulled through at Hong Kong Golf Club to win by three, his second victory on LIV. After the win, the Spaniard relayed that he has been in touch with Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and has ambitions to play on the European squad in September. Highlighted by a win at LIV Andalucía and a T-12 in last summer’s U.S. Open, Garcia is in impressive form for a player of his age. If the Ryder Cup started tomorrow, I’d want Sergio on my team.

To find Dustin Johnson’s result in Hong Kong, you must scroll down 53 rows from Sergio on the leaderboard. That’s right: DJ finished solo dead last, 19 strokes behind Garcia’s three-day total. Or, perhaps more telling, DJ finished a stroke behind Anthony Kim, whose return to competitive golf has gone about as well as reasonable minds expected. DJ’s last-place result is the latest episode in a disappointing decline for one of the best players of the 21st century. The 40-year-old hasn’t finished in the top 10 of a golf tournament since finishing T-7 at LIV Singapore, which was last May as I’m sure you remember. And he hasn’t cracked a top 10 in a strong field since finishing T-10 at the 2023 U.S. Open.

Back in Season One of Netflix’s docuseries Full Swing, Johnson’s wife Paulina Gretzky assured viewers that despite taking the LIV bag, DJ hadn’t lost his competitive spirit. Per Gretzky, “he is still ready to show you who the f— he is.” I’m not privy to DJ’s practice schedule, but his precipitous dropoff in performance over the last 24 months reeks of a golfer who isn’t putting in the work required to contend at the highest level. And yes, I understand: that’s his prerogative.

Whether or not Dustin Johnson has any gas remaining in the tank remains to be seen, but a dead-last finish on LIV doesn’t suggest he’ll be turning up to Augusta in a month ready to compete. I hope we see some signs of life from DJ before he officially retires, but I’m not holding my breath.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.