Black Caps bowler Neil Wagner announces retirement from international cricket.
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Three months out from the 103rd New Zealand Open, Michael Hendry didn’t know whether he would be able to take part.
After fighting cancer for most of last year, the 44-year-old says he’s back healthier than he was 12 months ago and can already feel the emotions begin to set in for his return to Millbrook Resort.
“Up until December, I still didn’t know whether I was actually going to be able to make the event.
“Just coming back and even having some time to myself on Sunday morning, having a coffee and knowing what I went through and how keen I was to get back – yeah, the emotions of this week started to hit me.”
The New Zealand Open is a special event for Hendry, who won what was then the New Zealand PGA Championship at The Hills in 2012 and 2013, then the famed play-off in 2017 when he beat Ben Campbell and Brad Kennedy to be the first Kiwi winner since 2003.
On Thursday, February 29, he will tee it up at Millbrook and he says this event and the Open Championship will bring out a lot of emotion for him.
“This event for me and possibly the British Open later this year are the ones that are going to carry the emotional value for me. Last year I’d just qualified for the British and I was really excited to play another one, and then my world came crashing down.
“I wasn’t sure I was going to get the exemption again, whether I was going to get the chance to play another one. Much like this [NZ Open] I didn’t know if I was going to be back, so maybe getting back on the horse and getting through this week regardless of result, I think will probably help me move forward.”
Having his family present will no doubt add to the emotions for Michael Hendry. Photo / Photosport
Hendry was locked in for his third trip to the British Open last year before his golf career and life appeared to come crashing down with a cancer diagnosis in April.
It meant having to withdraw from the major as he underwent treatment not knowing whether he would play a professional tournament again. But the news has been all positive for the 2017 New Zealand Open winner following rounds of chemotherapy, and his invitation to last year’s Open Championship has been held over for a year by tournament organisers.
He now has to undergo a bone marrow biopsy every three months, the most recent of which was just last week. His last result was completely clear, but Hendry says there is a certain level of angst in wanting to remain that way.
“I suppose there’s even a bigger level of anxiousness around the results now because I have been clear, I want to stay clear.”
A win on Sunday for the 2017 champion would of course be the dream result, but Hendry says being able to take part is a win in itself.
“I’d love to have a great event, but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to have a great event because of the extra emotion that this week is carrying for me.
“I’m just happy to be here, honestly. Where I was six months ago coming out of my chemotherapy and not really knowing what the future held, whether I was going to need more treatment in terms of transplants and things like that. Just to be here this week, it sounds cliche, but it is a win in itself.
“This week’s going to be special and emotional, but I’m kind of keen to move on and get on with what I want to do and hopefully start achieving on the golf course again.”
His eyes will be firmly on a return to the British Open once the New Zealand Open concludes, and he says with a tongue ever-so-slightly in his cheek that he’s all out of excuses once he gets through those two events.
“Once we get through those weeks and if we can get good results in terms of my health, there’s no excuses are there? All the excuses have been used – I’ve got to get back on the horse and start performing again.”
