Like high-achieving Kiwis such as Phar Lap, Russell Crowe and Crowded House, we’d love to claim him, but there are few prouder New Zealanders than Michael Hendry.

Yet as a regular on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia since 2006 and a four-time winner on our Tour, there is a connection we have with Hendry that we share with other Kiwis that cannot be denied.

That connection was never felt deeper than last May when Hendry posted to Instagram that he would have to forfeit his place in the 151st Open Championship at Royal Birkdale having been diagnosed with leukaemia.

On the eve of that Open he spoke about the two motivations driving him to win the fight for his life; his family and the chance to play The Open again.

“I want to be the guy that beat it."

An emotional check in with Michael Hendry after being forced to withdraw from @TheOpen due to a leukaemia diagnosis.https://t.co/vRmzK8FYnt

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) July 18, 2023

Six months ago he revealed that he had entered remission and that he would take up the offer made by The R&A to play the 152nd Open at Royal Troon, an offer that he said played a pivotal role in his recovery.

“To have the correspondence from The R&A come back and say, ‘We’d love you to attend at Royal Troon if you are healthy enough to do so’, was a huge motivator for me. I think it had a huge impact on my recovery,” Hendry told The R&A Media at Troon.

“To have another opportunity to play The Open is amazing, considering how sick I was.”

“I don’t want to speak too soon but things are looking really positive.”

Michael Hendry has opened up about his latest diagnosis, his exemption to @TheOpen and adding to Jarrod Lyle's legacy, via @TonyWebeck.#WebexPlayersSeries @Webex @golfnewzealand_ https://t.co/vNGGKNtz38

— PGA of Australia (@PGAofAustralia) January 19, 2024

Winner of the Vic Open in February 2023, Hendry was in some of the best form of his career immediately prior to his life-altering diagnosis.

He was tied for sixth at his beloved New Zealand Open, tied for fourth at the NZ PGA Championship a week later and then runner-up at the World City Championship in Hong Kong, a result that earned him an exemption into the 2023 Open.

Two weeks later he was rushed to hospital and subsequently told that he had acute myeloid leukaemia, the same diagnosis that befell the late Jarrod Lyle.

It re-framed Hendry’s entire existence yet it was always family and golf that drove him forward.

Last November, he returned to the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and made the cut at the Queensland PGA Championship.

His form and fitness has been building ever since, to the point where he won for a second time on the Japan Golf Tour in May, almost a year to the day that he was told of his life-threatening condition.

So you’ll excuse us, for this week only, we claim Hendry as one of our own.

“It feels a bit surreal to be honest, just by being here it feels like I have won the lottery,” added Hendry, who is in the third group out at 3:57pm AEST on Thursday.

“These are the things to live for, so if you find yourself in a bit of strife – either physical or mental health – just keep going because the next day can be better.”

Elsewhere this week, Australia’s greatest major champion makes a rare appearance at the LPGA Tour’s Dana Open.

A week out from captaining the Australian Olympic golf team, Karrie Webb is teeing it up alongside fellow veteran Sarah Jane Smith and the new generation of Aussie stars, led by Amundi Evian Championship runner-up Stephanie Kyriacou.

College star Karl Vilips makes his second start on the Korn Ferry Tour in Missouri and Jason Scrivener and Aaron Baddeley fly the Aussie flag at the PGA TOUR’s Barracuda Championship played under a modified Stableford format.

Photo: Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images

Round 1 tee times AEST

The Open
Royal Troon, Troon, Scotland
3:57pm            Michael Hendry (NZ)
4:08pm            Daniel Hillier (NZ)
4:19pm             Min Woo Lee
4:30pm            Adam Scott
4:41pm            Jasper Stubbs (a)
8:04pm            Elvis Smylie
9:20pm            Ryan Fox (NZ)
10:26pm          Jason Day
11:59pm          Cameron Smith
1:05am            Kazuma Kobori (NZ)

Defending champion: Brian Harman
Past Aussie winners: Peter Thomson (1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965), Kel Nagle (1960), Greg Norman (1986, 1993), Ian Baker-Finch (1991), Cameron Smith (2022)
Prize money: $US17 million
TV times: Live 3:30pm-5:30am Thursday, Friday on Fox Sports 503; Live 7pm–10:35pm Saturday on Fox Sports 505; Live 10:30pm-5am Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 6pm-4am Sunday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.

PGA TOUR
Barracuda Championship
Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood Cse), Truckee, California
12:40am          Tim Wilkinson (NZ)
1:24am*           Jason Scrivener
6:39am*           Aaron Baddeley

Defending champion: Akshay Bhatia
Past Aussie winners: Geoff Ogilvy (2014), Greg Chalmers (2016)
Prize money: $US4 million
TV times: Live 7am-10am Friday, Saturday, Sunday; Live 8am-11am Monday on Fox Sports 505 and Kayo.

LPGA Tour
Dana Open
Highland Meadows Golf Club, Sylvania, Ohio
9:15pm            Robyn Choi
10:10pm          Stephanie Kyriacou
10:32pm          Karrie Webb
10:43pm          Sarah Kemp
3:21am            Hira Naveed
3:26am*           Grace Kim
4:05am            Su Oh
4:21am*           Sarah Jane Smith

Defending champion: Linn Grant
Past Aussie winners: Rachel Hetherington (2002)
Prize money: $US1.75 million
TV times: Live 4am-7am Sunday on Fox Sports 505; Live 3am-6am Monday on Fox Sports 507 and Kayo.

Ladies European Tour
Dutch Ladies Open
Hilversumsche Golf Club, Netherlands
4:41pm*          Kelsey Bennett
5:03pm            Whitney Hillier
5:36pm            Momoka Kobori (NZ)
5:36pm*          Amy Walsh

Defending champion: Trichat Cheenglab
Past Aussie winners: Corinne Dibnah (1993), Stephanie Kyriacou (2021)
Prize money: €300,000

Korn Ferry Tour
Price Cutter Charity Championship
Highland Springs Country Club, Springfield, Missouri
9:55pm*          Rhein Gibson
10:06pm*         Dimi Papadatos
10:50pm          Brett Drewitt
11:12pm          Curtis Luck
3:37am*           Steven Bowditch
5:05am*           Karl Vilips

Defending champion: Pierceson Coody
Past Aussie winners: Anthony Painter (1998), Cameron Percy (2014)
Prize money: $US1 million

PGA TOUR Americas
Bromont Open
Golf Chateau-Bromont, Québec
11:10pm          Grant Booth
11:20pm          Harry Hillier (NZ)
3:40am*           Charlie Hillier (NZ)

Defending champion: Inaugural event
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: $US225,000

Epson Tour
Twin Bridges Championship
Pinehaven Country Club, Guilderland, New York
10:30pm*         Fiona Xu (NZ)
3:19am*           Amelia Garvey (NZ)
4:03am*           Maddison Hinson-Tolchard

Defending champion: Jenny Bae
Past Aussie winners: Sarah Jane Smith (2008), Breanna Elliott (2015)
Prize money: $US237,500

Challenge Tour
Euram Bank Open
GC Adamstal, Ramsau, Austria
3:50pm            Jeff Guan
4pm                 Blake Windred
4:20pm*          Hayden Hopewell

Defending champion: Casey Jarvis
Past Aussie winners: Nil
Prize money: €270,000