TROON, Scotland — Doctors help save lives.
Medicines can help save lives.
Families help save lives.
In some cases, the same goes for golf.
Michael Hendry, a 44-year-old New Zealander who plays on the Asian Tour, stepped onto the first tee at Royal Troon at 6:57 a.m. Scottish time on Thursday after doctors helped save his life after he was diagnosed with leukemia last year, finishing third in the 152nd British Open.
Hendry stood on the first tee through the rolling morning mist because he never lost faith he could win again, and also because his wife, Tara, kept him supportive and positive during the nearly four months he lay in a hospital bed undergoing comprehensive chemotherapy treatments.
Hendry is taking part because the R&A has offered him a place in the 2024 tournament if he is fit, after he qualified for the 2023 Open by winning a tournament in Hong Kong but was forced to withdraw after being diagnosed.
It was a classy and thoughtful gesture that helped save Hendry’s life, and the R&A must have had no idea how powerful it would be because they just wanted to do the right thing.
“Knowing that I could play once I got healthy was the key to my recovery,” Hendry said Thursday after shooting a three-over 74 in the first round. “Words can’t express how grateful I am to not only the R&A but all the doctors and nurses who have helped me over the last 12 months.”
Tara Hendry said the special invitation for her husband from the R&A was “vital” to his recovery.
“It’s great that they came back pretty early and said they wanted to reserve that spot for him,” she told The Post. “It just gives you something to aim for. It’s good to have a goal, right?”
Hendry came into the Open like any golfer with a goal — making the cut, of course — but what Hendry didn’t realize was that 20 years ago, on this very course, in the relatively unknown Asian Tour tournament where Hendry plays, Todd Hamilton won the Open.
Hendry entered Friday’s second round in 70th place, nine strokes behind the leader, but the numbers hardly matter. What matters most is the fact that he’s here.
Hendry finished the first five holes in four over par, and after he bogeyed the fifth hole, his nine-year-old daughter Madison, standing just outside the ropes, gave him a hug. Hendry played the remaining 13 holes in one under par.
“You could tell he was nervous the first four or five holes,” Tara said. “You could see the look on his face and you could tell something else was going on in his mind.”
Hendry acknowledged that.
“It was a mixture of too many flashbacks and too many thoughts of, ‘Oh, I’m really here and I’m really doing this,'” he said. “I think it took a few potholes to get through it.”
Hendry got emotional at times during post-round conversations.
The emotion was stirred by the reality that only a few months ago he was lying in a hospital bed wondering not whether he would ever play golf again, but how long he had left to live.
That sentiment was clear when he spoke about his wife and two daughters, all of whom are with him this week, a rare sight as he competes in some 18 tournaments in Japan.
“I was really hoping I’d be healthy this week and be able to play and take the guys with me,” Hendry said. “I’m not that young anymore and playing on the Japan Tour, you don’t get that many opportunities to play majors.
“This will probably be my last British Open. My daughters are just old enough to understand what their dad does. Coming here and experiencing the British Open will allow them to see what a lot of great things their dad can do.”
Years from now, his daughters will understand just how amazing their father’s stories were.
“He doesn’t want to be remembered as the golfer who had cancer,” Tara said. “He wants to be remembered as the person he is. He’s a great example for people who are going through the same thing as him.”
Though Hendry is currently healthy, he’s not out of the woods yet: he still has cancer cells in his blood, and Tara says doctors have told him there’s an 85 percent chance the leukemia will come back, so he continues to take medication to keep it at bay and lives life with a very different outlook than before.
“Facing your own death really changes you,” Hendry said. “I don’t think I would have appreciated life as much if I hadn’t had this experience. I’m a much happier person now.”
“It’s a lot easier to get through bad shots when you’re not fighting for your life in a hospital somewhere. This week means a lot to me after what I went through last year. This week I’m hoping I can put closure on that part of my life and move forward.”
