Uber Driver Berry Henson Scores a Coveted Qualifying Spot in U.S. Open
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"I’ll be doing a few Uber rides in L.A. probably next week," the Asian Tour pro told USA Today about his off-the-course plans
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Uber driver by night … PGA pro by day?
It’s all the same for Berry Henson, who has just scored one of the coveted qualifier spots to play in the 123rd U.S. Open, which tees off next week at the Los Angeles Country Club.
On Monday, he shot a -7 (64) at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, N.J., securing his appearance at the major, which happens to be located only 120 miles west of his hometown of Palm Desert, Calif.
Henson overcame long odds, winning one of 43 spots for which 644 golfers across 10 qualifying courses in the U.S. and Canada were hoping to nab.
Next week, though, he’ll be driving in more ways than one.
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"You know, I go to the golf course, play golf, pick up an Uber ride on the way back and maybe get two, three, four rides a day," Henson, 43, told USA Today. "I’ll be doing a few Uber rides in L.A. probably next week."
The athlete has been trying to break through on the tour for years.
Currently, he plays on the Asian Tour where he’s been a top 30 player for over a decade, per the newspaper.
But the dream of competing on the PGA Tour has been a continued focus. He tried seven times to earn his card at Q-School, but failed each time.
"I was so bummed out, and we had to make a decision on what we were going to do next year," Henson said, referring to a conversation he had with a backer. "All my other money was tapped, and he’s like, 'Hey, I got five grand.'"
Henson went to Asia where he found success, and a part-time home in Thailand.
Over his career, he’s won once, in 2011 at the ICTSI Philippine Open. But driving for Uber is rewarding too, the aspiring golf star told Pro Golf Weekly.
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“I have to keep my mind busy, that’s the type of person I am," he said. "I can’t sit at home and not do something that’s earning money — it’s not that I needed the money — but I needed to feel like I had a purpose.”
He also has an “alter ego,” the unconventional golfer admitted.
“The alter ego… back home everyone calls me the Hensonator,” he said, while playing the Hero Open on the European Tour in 2021. “They tell me to go Hensonate them. That’s what I’ve been doing in these conditions. It’s just fun, I like to have fun and joke around.”
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