An area populated by many Aussies who played the European Tour around the turn of the century, Hensby looked right at home at Sunningdale Golf Club, starting the final senior major of 2025 with five straight birdies.<\/p>\n
That hot streak would cool somewhat with two further birdies and a lone bogey over the following 13 holes, Hensby\u2019s round of 6-under 64 just one stroke off the lead held by Kiwi Steven Alker (63).<\/p>\n
A quartet of Aussies \u2013 Rod Pampling, Steve Allan, Scott Hend and Richard Green \u2013 all shot 2-under 68 to be tied 14th as defending champion KJ Choi (66), US Senior Open winner Padraig Harrington (67), Ernie Els (67) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (67) all made bright starts.<\/p>\n
Hensby was tied with Harrington and Stewart Cink going into the final round of the US Senior Open before finishing fourth late last month, an experience he intends to draw upon over the coming three days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned a lot playing with P\u00e1draig and Stewart the last day,\u201d Hensby said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be perfect and, unfortunately, we feel like we have to. P\u00e1draig played great the last nine holes and it was fun to be there and watch and competing, even though I wasn\u2019t in contention the last nine holes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t played here before, but I love the golf course and my game has been kind of trending at times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank goodness it was good today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out in 6-under 29, Hensby peppered the pins early on Thursday, aware that the front nine was more scoreable than the back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first three holes I wasn\u2019t outside three feet,\u201d said the 54-year-old, who withdrew after Round 1 of the 2024 Senior Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, the back nine probably is a little bit more difficult,. I mean, you\u2019ve only got one par 5 and you\u2019ve got that long par 3 and there\u2019s a couple of tricky tee shots on the back nine. Not that the front is easy. But it\u2019s definitely a little bit tougher today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alker, who turns 54 on Monday, is bidding to win his second senior major title, three years on from his first at the Senior PGA Championship.<\/p>\n
He mixed three birdies with a bogey over the front nine, before producing a flawless back nine that featured three further birdies and an eagle at the par-5 13th.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just efficient today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrove it in the fairway when I needed to and iron play was solid and just made some putts, especially on the back nine, just kind of kept things rolling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bogeyed seven and after that, I just got a bit of momentum and kept it going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo: Luke Walker\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Round 1 Australasian scores
1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steven Alker (NZ)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -7
2\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Hensby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -6
T14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steve Allan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -2
T14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scott Hend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -2
T14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rod Pampling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -2
T14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -2
T26\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cameron Percy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 -1
T42\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Greg Chalmers\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E
T42\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stuart Appleby\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E
T42\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Campbell (NZ) E
T42\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Brown (NZ)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 E
T69\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Long (NZ)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +1
T87\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Wright\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +2
T126\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Bransdon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +5<\/p>\n
Round 2 tee times AEST
4:35pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cameron Percy
5:13pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Brown (NZ)
6:30pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stuart Appleby
6:46pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Richard Green
9:25pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 David Bransdon
9:36pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mark Hensby
9:52pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Long (NZ)
10:03pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rod Pampling
10:25pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scott Hend
10:58pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Steven Alker (NZ)
11:25pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Campbell (NZ)
11:36pm\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Greg Chalmers, Steve Allan
12:31am\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Michael Wright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An area populated by many Aussies who played the European Tour around the turn of the century, Hensby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-21349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}