Russell Henley opens with a 1-under 71 in first round of the Masters

Russell Henley managed to sneak into the 2017 Masters Tournament with a final-round 65 to win the Houston Open on Sunday.

On Thursday, the former University of Georgia golfer kept the momentum going.

Henley, going off in the first group, shot 1-under 71 in windy conditions in his first Masters since 2015 and the fourth of his career.

“With the soft conditions, I just felt like I could play well today,” he said. “Obviously, I won last week and was feeling confident. I was just excited to go out there and feel like I can play well on this course right now.”

Henley opened with par, two birdies and a bogey on the first four holes before five consecutive pars to card 1-under 35 on the first nine.

He made two quick bogeys to open the second nine, then rattled off three consecutive birdies. He made par on three of the final four holes and bogeyed No. 17.

“I felt I played No. 10 really well and I felt I played 11 not that bad and I somehow hit it 25 feet past the pin, which is not where you want to be,” Henley said.

But the 27-year-old from Macon, Ga., didn’t lose confidence – maybe because of what happened last weekend or just because of how things were breaking Thursday.

“Hit a great shot into 12, kept it below the wind and hit it to seven feet and made it,” Henley said.

He managed to keep control in the gusty conditions and said he’s gotten better at learning how to flight the ball into the wind.

“I’d say just being able to flight the ball lower than the tree line and just control my distances (was key),” Henley said. “I feel like I left myself in a really bad spot maybe once or twice, and the rest of the day I was hitting into spots I could score from and make pars and I made a couple of putts.”