After winning a battle against leukaemia, the 45-year-old has made his third appearance at the Open after organisers the R&A held his exemption forward for a year.
Speaking after his first round, a three-over par 74 to sit tied 69th, Hendry struggled to describe the feeling of teeing it up at a Major championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Scotland after withdrawing from last year’s event due to his diagnosis.
He said the knowledge he still had his exemption for this year’s Open was a major driver throughout his recovery.
“It was incredible. Words can’t really describe how grateful I am, not only to the R&A, but to all of the doctors and nurses who have helped me over the last 12 months. It was extremely special.
“This is one thing that really got me through my recovery. To finally be here and teeing it up was extremely special.”
Standing on the first tee box was an unsurprisingly emotional moment for the Kiwi, who said making it to that moment was a milestone he hopes can be a signal that he has left a torrid year in the past.
“Nervous, like you always are, I suppose, at the beginning of an Open Championship. Also quite emotional.
“Like I said, this was a key to my recovery, knowing that I could play this if I got healthy. So I dedicated myself as much as I could, did as much as was in my control to get healthy.
“I feel like this week hopefully will draw a line through that part of my life, and I can move on.”
Getting his health to a level that he could play at this year’s Open was as much about the opportunity for his family to watch him play at a Major, as it was about competing, Hendry said.
“I really hoped I was going to be healthy enough to play so I could bring them over. I’m no spring chicken anymore, and playing on the Japan Tour, we don’t get that many opportunities to get into major events. This could very well be my last British Open.
“So having a young family, and my girls are now just at the age where they can kind of understand what Dad does, and to have them here and experiencing the Open, which is the biggest, the oldest, the best golf tournament of the lot, I think it gives them a really cool perspective as to what Dad does. So it’s really cool.”
Michael Hendry during the first round of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon. Photo / Getty Images
Royal Troon clearly didn’t receive the memo to take it easy on Hendry, or anyone else for that matter, as just 17 of the 157-player field managed to record a first round score under par.
Hendry managed to recover after a brutal opening to his round, recording two bogeys and one double-bogey in his first five holes, to then go bogey-free in the next 13 holes and score three birdies.
The world no 420 said the unpredictable wind that kept changing direction was difficult to figure out initially - such are the perils of links golf.
“It was tricky. Particularly the first sort of six or seven holes. The wind direction changed completely. So you’re trying to figure out what club to hit off each tee to put yourself in position.
“The wind is, for me anyway, it’s always surprisingly strong when you get up here and playing links golf. So it took me a little while to sort of figure out how the ball was flying in that heavy wind. It took probably six or seven holes to feel like I was in the tournament, to be honest.”
Historically, the back nine holes at Royal Troon are the most difficult, so Hendry said once his emotions settled somewhat he was able to put together a much improved second half of his round.
“Yeah, it was solid. It wasn’t terrible on the front nine either. I feel like I missed probably two or three putts, three inches short in the jaws as well. It could have been quite a solid round of golf. Just got off to a bit of a slow start.
“I suppose, once I got over the adrenaline and the emotion of the situation, managed to settle into my work and played pretty well.”
Hendry sits nine shots back of leader Daniel Brown, who shot a six-under 65 to lead by one over Ireland’s Shane Lowry.
The other three Kiwis in the field had mixed results as the tough conditions saw the vast majority of players score over par. Kazuma Kobori and Ryan Fox were the best of the New Zealand representatives, both shooting a two-over 73 to sit tied for 42nd.
Daniel Hillier struggled, scoring two triple-bogeys in his five over 76 which sees him tied for 96th.
Will Toogood is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He has previously worked for Newstalk ZB’s digital team and at Waiheke’s Gulf News, covering sport and events.
