Emotional week for Hendry
Less than a year after his shock cancer diagnosis, Michael Hendry is returning to Millbrook.
No sooner had Michael Hendry set foot on the pristine fairways and greens at Millbrook Resort and the emotions started flowing. Back for the 103rd New Zealand Open in Arrowtown, and less than a year since his shock cancer diagnosis, the 44-year-old Kiwi doesn’t believe he’ll be able to keep his emotions in check once the action gets underway today, either.
“To be honest, I’d love to have a great event, but I am not sure that I will be able to ... because of the extra emotion that this week is carrying for me,” he said.
Sitting alongside the 18th green, where Hendry celebrated winning the Brodie Breeze Trophy in 2017, the last Kiwi to win the NZ Open had to pause to gather his thoughts on a few occasions on the eve of the $2 million tournament.
For Hendry, it’s hard to believe 12 months have passed since he made a late charge during last year’s tournament and finished tied for sixth, before his “world came crashing down” less than two months later.
That was in the form of his shock leukaemia diagnosis last April, an illness which he spent much of last year successfully fighting.
“I feel, in a lot of ways, like a very different person from then, too. Lessons learnt, different perspective on a lot of things in life and golf, so 12 months feels like a lifetime ago.’’
Hendry doesn’t just feel like a different person. He looks it.
As he put it, he’s physically in better shape than he was 12 months ago – the result of a decision he made after shedding 15kg in a matter of weeks while he was undergoing chemotherapy and barely being able to recognise himself in the mirror.
“It was then that I decided I was going to rededicate myself. At that stage, I still had three rounds of chemo to go through, and if I didn’t do anything right then and there, the road back was going to be too long.
“So I pushed hard and I rededicated myself to health and fitness and I put the weight back on, which was a lot of fun, to be honest. I haven’t eaten like that since I was a kid.”
Hendry was always desperate to get back to the New Zealand Open while he was recovering, but only a few months ago he still wasn’t sure he would be in position to do so.
Sure, he’d recorded an emotional win at the Clearwater Open last October, but he needed his bone marrow biopsy before Christmas to show he was free of cancer.
It did. And, having undergone his latest three-monthly test last week, his fingers are crossed that looming results will confirm he remains in the clear.
“The last one was really good and completely clear. But I suppose there is even a bigger level of anxiousness around the results now, because I have been clear, I want to stay clear.”
Turning to look at the 18th green, Hendry let the memories rush back, including the moment he celebrated winning the New Zealand Open with a fist pump in 2017, when he pipped Ben Campbell and Australian Brad Kennedy in a playoff.
Hendry is not loading himself up with pressure this week.
“Maybe getting back on the horse and getting through the week regardless of the result will probably help me move forward, and probably the British Open [July] as well,” he said.
“Once we get through those weeks, and if we continue to get good results in terms of my health, there is no excuses, is there? All the excuses are used, I’ve got to get back on the horse and start performing again.”