[go: up one dir, main page]
Jump to content

Mark Hensby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Hensby
Personal information
Full nameMark Adam Hensby
Born (1971-06-29) 29 June 1971 (age 53)
Melbourne, Australia
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Sporting nationality Australia
ResidenceMesa, Arizona, U.S.
SpouseKimberly Hensby
Children2
Career
Turned professional1995
Current tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins7
Highest ranking27 (21 August 2005)[1]
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour3
PGA Tour Champions1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT5: 2005
PGA ChampionshipT59: 2005
U.S. OpenT3: 2005
The Open ChampionshipT15: 2005

Mark Adam Hensby (born 29 June 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. His sole victory on the PGA Tour came at the 2004 John Deere Classic.

Early years and amateur career

[edit]

Hensby was born in Melbourne, Victoria. Australia. He grew up with his parents and two brothers, Darren and Jason, in Tamworth, New South Wales. When he was young, his parents divorced.[2]

Hensby first played golf when 12 years old and reached handicap 3 within two years.[2] He attended Tamworth High School, leaving at the age of 16 to work as a postie while spending most of his time on the golf course.

He moved to the United States in 1994, and having initially stayed with family friends, for a time slept in his car parked at the Cog Hill Golf & Country Club near Chicago, Illinois.[3] He won the Illinois State Amateur Championship in 1994 before turning professional the following year.

Professional career

[edit]

Hensby played on U.S. second-tier tour, at the time named the Nike Tour and later the Buy.com Tour, from 1997 before he graduated to the PGA Tour for the 2001 season. He gained his place on the elite tour by virtue of his 2nd-place finish on the Buy.com Tour money list in 2000. In his rookie season, Hensby did not earn enough money to retain his card and was forced to return to the second tier for 2002, after failing to regain his place at the end of season qualifying school. In 2003, he picked up his third win on second-tier tour, now named the Nationwide Tour, and finished 7th on the money list, to graduate directly to the PGA Tour for the second time.

2004 was a breakthrough season for Hensby as he sought to establish himself on the PGA Tour. He collected his first win at the 2004 John Deere Classic, where he defeated John E. Morgan in a sudden-death playoff,[3] and also had several other top 10 finishes on his way to 15th place on the end of season money list. The following season, he made an impact in the majors, finishing tied for 5th at the Masters, tied for 3rd in the U.S. Open, and tied for 15th at The Open at St Andrews, Scotland, after being second behind eventual winner Tiger Woods after the first round.[4] In 2005, Hensby made the cut in all four majors. He also won the Scandinavian Masters on the European Tour after beating Henrik Stenson in a playoff on Stenson's home soil in Stockholm, Sweden, after Hensby had birdied the last two holes in regulation to force a playoff.[5] He advanced to a career high 27th in the Official World Golf Ranking during 2005. He was awarded with a spot in the 2005 Presidents Cup International team.

A car accident early in 2006 severely limited Hensby's ability to compete that year,[6] but he came back in 2007 to finish just outside the top 100 on the PGA Tour money list and secure his card for following season.[7] His struggles were not over however and in 2008, he slipped outside the top 150 to lose his fully exempt status.

A series of injuries and three shoulder surgeries, plus two failed attempts at European Tour Q School, halted Hensby's career. He made his first PGA Tour start in two years (and first cut on any major tour since 2011) at the 2015 Barbasol Championship. He was the co-leader at the 36-hole point with rookie Kim Meen-whee. Hensby finished T6, his first PGA Tour top ten finish in seven years.

In December 2017, the PGA Tour suspended Hensby for one year retroactive to 26 October for violating the Tour's anti-doping policy.[8] Hensby spoke out a day afterwards, saying: "Call me stupid but don’t call me a cheater."[9]

In April 2023, Hensby won the Invited Celebrity Classic on PGA Tour Champions in Irving, Texas for his first PGA Tour Champions victory. Hensby won in a playoff. He parred the fourth playoff hole to win the tournament after his opponent Charlie Wi hit his approach into the water.[10]

Hensby with Miguel Ángel Jiménez at the 2023 U.S. Senior Open.

Amateur wins

[edit]
  • 1994 Illinois State Amateur Championship

Professional wins (7)

[edit]

PGA Tour wins (1)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 11 Jul 2004 John Deere Classic −16 (68-65-69-66=268) Playoff England John E. Morgan

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2004 John Deere Classic England John E. Morgan Won with par on second extra hole

European Tour wins (1)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 31 Jul 2005 Scandinavian Masters −22 (65-68-64-65=262) Playoff Sweden Henrik Stenson

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2005 Scandinavian Masters Sweden Henrik Stenson Won with par on second extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (3)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 22 Aug 1998 Nike Fort Smith Classic −20 (65-68-62-65=260) 2 strokes United States Woody Austin
2 6 May 2000 Buy.com Carolina Classic −18 (64-68-68-66=266) Playoff South Africa Manny Zerman
3 20 Jul 2003 Henrico County Open −20 (71-67-67-63=268) Playoff United States Zach Johnson

Nationwide Tour playoff record (2–1)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2000 Buy.com Carolina Classic South Africa Manny Zerman Won with par on seventh extra hole
2 2002 Permian Basin Open United States Tag Ridings Lost to eagle on first extra hole
3 2003 Henrico County Open United States Zach Johnson Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (1)

[edit]

PGA Tour Champions wins (1)

[edit]
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 23 Apr 2023 Invited Celebrity Classic −12 (66-65-70=201) Playoff South Korea Charlie Wi

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2023 Invited Celebrity Classic South Korea Charlie Wi Won with par on fourth extra hole

Results in major championships

[edit]
Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007
Masters Tournament T5 T22
U.S. Open T3 CUT
The Open Championship T15 T22 CUT
PGA Championship T68 T59
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

[edit]
Tournament 2005 2006 2007 2008
The Players Championship T73 74 CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

[edit]
Tournament 2004 2005 2006 2007
Match Play R32 R64
Championship T11 T56
Invitational T65 T58 T54 T67
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

Team appearances

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Week 34 2005 Ending 21 Aug 2005" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b Milne, Doug (17 March 2023). "Mark Hensby's golf career forged by resilience". PGA Tour. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Hensby swaps sleeping in his car for driving to the top". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 July 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  4. ^ "Hensby keen to make Presidents Cup team". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 May 2008. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Tack för matchen!" [Thanks for the match!]. Svensk Golf. No. 9. September 2005. pp. 120–121. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  6. ^ "Injured Hensby set to take break". BBC Sport. 2 August 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  7. ^ "Hensby secures ticket for PGA Tour". The Australian. 23 October 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  8. ^ Romine, Brentley (11 December 2017). "PGA Tour suspends Mark Hensby for violating its anti-doping policy". Golfweek.
  9. ^ Inglis, Martin (13 December 2017). "Mark Hensby speaks out after PGA Tour ban". bunkered.
  10. ^ "Mark Hensby prevails in playoff for 1st PGA Tour Champions win". ESPN. Associated Press. 23 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Hensby&oldid=1259839156"