Fort Worth golfers beat 10,000 to 1 odds by winning on same day

It took a 10,000-to-1 shot to come in, based on the analysis of a professional oddsmaker.

But a pair of professional golfers from Fort Worth combined Sunday to carve out a unique slice of history by winning PGA Tour-sanctioned events on the same day.

J.J. Henry, a Fort Worth resident and former TCU golfer, buried a 15-foot eagle putt on the second playoff hole to secure his first victory of the season, and the third of his PGA Tour career, at the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nev.

Hours earlier, Fort Worth resident Martin Piller put the finishing touches on a four-stroke triumph at the Digital Ally Open on the Web.com Tour, the developmental circuit run by the PGA Tour.

It marked the first time for two Fort Worth residents to prevail at tour-sanctioned events on the same day since the PGA Tour created its developmental circuit, initially dubbed the Hogan Tour, during the 1990 season. Asked Monday to calculate the odds against such an occurrence, Bovada.lv Sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley responded via e-mail: “Chances of both guys winning from same town on same day probably 10,000-1.”

John Bush, PGA Tour spokesman, said tour officials do not officially track incidents where golfers from the same city prevail on different tours on the same day. But Sunday’s dueling triumphs assured that Henry and Piller, a former Texas A&M golfer, will both be competitors on the PGA Tour for the 2015-16 season that begins in October.

Henry’s triumph extended his PGA Tour exemption through the 2016-17 season and secured his spot to compete in this week’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits Golf Course in Haven, Wis. Piller, 29, moved to No. 2 on the Web.com Tour money list ($308,548) with his second victory of the season and entrenched himself as one of the golfers destined to finish among the top 25 money winners on that circuit this season. The top-25 money winners on the 2015 Web.com Tour receive PGA Tour cards next season.

For Henry, the triumph broke a three-year victory drought and required “a lot of math” while factoring in elevation changes for each shot as well as point values assigned to eagles (5), birdies (2), pars (0), bogeys (minus-1) and double-bogeys or worse (minus-3) under the modified Stableford scoring system used at the mountainous course in Reno. It also served as motivation going forward.

“Hopefully, this will springboard me for kind of the second half of my career, now that I’m 40 years old,” Henry said. “It gives me a chance to ride that momentum.”

Piller, husband of LPGA Tour competitor Gerina Piller, called his triumph in Overland Park, Kan. a special one because it came with his wife and his father in attendance. It also marked his second title in his last three starts, including a July 12 victory at the Boise Open. In those events, Piller posted winning totals of 28-under-par (Boise) and 26-under (Sunday).

“I thought in Boise, ‘You’d never expect that again.’ To do it again is really special,” Piller said to reporters after Sunday’s closing 65 secured a four-stroke triumph and a $108,000 payday.

Asked about the possibility of overtaking Patton Kizzire ($391,699) for the top spot on the Web.com Tour money list by the end of the season, Piller said: “It’s always in the back of your mind. But it’ll take another one of these, maybe two more, to catch him.”

Based on the odds, it’ll take more than that before golf fans in Fort Worth see another day like Sunday, when two residents of their town won PGA Tour-sanctioned events on the same afternoon.

This story was originally published August 10, 2015 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Fort Worth golfers beat 10,000 to 1 odds by winning on same day."