Friday. Scorecard of 78 strokes and a total of +10. Michael Hendry bids farewell to the Open Championship. Another one succumbs to the claws of Royal Troon.
This could be any story, that of another player who does not make a cut in a Major. However, Michael Hendry’s is one of the great stories of the Open 2024. The New Zealander was not supposed to play this tournament. He is an exception, a blessed exception.
Just thirteen months ago, the New Zealander was bedridden in a hospital, writing a retirement letter to the R&A shortly before the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool. He had earned his place by finishing second in the World City Championship in Hong Kong, one of those tournaments that grant places for the last Major of the year.
However, a few weeks after his qualification, a lump appeared on his chin that Michael did not pay attention to. He continued to compete until fatigue began to consume him. It was even hard for him to get out of bed. The alarms went off. The diagnosis could not have been worse: leukemia.
From heaven to hell in just fifteen days. He went from living one of the best moments of his sports career to touching the abyss of death: “What hurt me the most was seeing photos of my son and thinking that he could grow up without having a father”.
Less than a month from the third Major of his career, he had to surrender to the evidence of the impossibility of playing in Royal Liverpool and announced that he was withdrawing from the tournament. The response from R&A was a great stimulus for Hendry. They were very sorry for his news, but they left a door open to hope: “If within a year you are healthy enough to do so, we would love for you to play at Royal Troon”. The Royal and Ancient is not very given to great exceptions, but this case deserved an exception. The person ahead of the rule. The New Zealander admits that the news was a great motivation: “I think it had a great impact on my recovery”.
He began a long and painful recovery process. Due to chemotherapy, he lost 14 kg in weight and barely had the strength to climb the stairs. Although unpleasant, it was effective. Michael Hendry could officially consider himself recovered.
It was time to complete the last step in recovery: play the Open Championship 2024. “To be honest, it’s a bit surreal, just being in the tournament is like I’ve won the lottery,” said Michael Hendry, who admitted to having squeezed the experience to the fullest.
On Thursday he had time to treat himself to a round of 74 strokes that placed him on the cut limit. A lot of golf in that already recovered blood. His scorecard of 78 strokes on Friday did not matter to him in the slightest. He would have signed it with fire just a year ago when he did not even know if he was living his last days of life. Long live golf and these stories that show us that life and sport add up a lot when they go hand in hand.
