Hensby finished outright third at the US Senior Open as Padraig Harrington held off a fast-finishing Steve Stricker (65) to claim his first senior major championship, a birdie at the par-4 15th providing the one shot that would prove the difference.

Tied for 10th at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Hensby had to come through qualifying to earn a place at Saucon Valley Country Club, a path he won’t have to take again should he choose to play next year.

At the halfway point of the tournament Hensby took to Facebook to announce that 2022 would be his final year on tour, his US Senior Open consolation somewhat complicating matters.

“I’m not sure I’m going to play much golf after this year, so if I do, obviously it’s there,” Hensby said of his reward for finishing inside the top 10 and ties.

“We’ll see.”

Owning a share of the lead after Round 1, Hensby produced one of the best rounds on Sunday, yet it could have been even better.

Nine shots adrift of Harrington at the start of the final round, Hensby had six birdies in his round of two-under 69, a double bogey at 14 followed by a bogey at 15 halting any charge he may have been hoping to mount.

“It got really tiring towards the end,” Hensby conceded.

“It’s difficult when you know you’re not going to have a chance to win. Play as aggressive as you can without being stupid.

“I hit it close, and I drove it particularly well most of the day, other than two drives in a row (at 14 and 15).

“If you drive it well here you can make some birdies because the pins, even though they’re tough, I had a lot of wedges in so I can get it close enough.”

As Hensby finished six shots back of Harrington, Minjee Lee put herself in position for a third major title and a second in succession at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

A three-putt on the 71st hole would prove crucial as Lee finished one back of Korea’s In Gee Chun in a week in which fellow Aussies Hannah Green and Stephanie Kyriacou also finished inside the top 10.

If Lee and Hensby finished just shy it was a breakthrough win for Kristalle Blum on the Ladies European Tour’s Access Series.

Blum finished one clear of New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori to claim the Golf Vlaanderen LETAS Trophy in Belgium and take an important step towards graduating to the LET proper in 2023.

Elsewhere around the world Kiwi Ryan Fox continued his sensational 2022 form by finishing third at the DP World Tour’s BMW International Open, Gabi Ruffels was tied for 10th at the Epson Tour’s Island Resort Championship and defending champion Junseok Lee gave a spirited difference of his Kolon Korea Open title, finishing in fifth spot just two shots from the winner.

Results

Champions Tour
US Senior Open
Saucon Valley Country Club, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Winner Padraig Harrington         71-65-66-72—274           $US720,000
3            Mark Hensby     67-73-71-69—280           $275,666
T11        Steven Alker      72-67-71-73—283          
T13        Rod Pampling    73-70-70-71—284          
T25        Stuart Appleby  76-69-71-72—288          
T49        Richard Green   71-71-73-77—292          
T51        John Senden      73-72-72-76—293          
62          Gavin Coles        74-73-77-75—299          
MC        Robert Allenby  75-75—150
MC        Michael Campbell           79-74—153

LPGA Tour
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Maryland
Winner In Gee Chun       64-69-75-75—283           $US1.35m
T2          Minjee Lee         73-68-73-70—284           $718,826
T5          Hannah Green   71-69-72-75—287           $274,165.40
T10        Stephanie Kyriacou         72-72-72-72—288           $155,464.16
T40        Sarah Kemp       73-74-72-74—293           $42,957
T46        Lydia Ko              72-67-76-79—294          
MC        Katherine Kirk    74-76—150
MC        Su Oh    75-75—150
MC        Sarah Jane Smith             78-73—151

PGA TOUR
Travelers Championship
TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut
Winner Xander Schauffele          63-63-67-68—261           $US1.494m
T56        Cam Davis          65-66-73-74—278           $19,007
MC        Marc Leishman 71-69—140
MC        Brett Drewitt     69-72—141
MC        Jason Day           74-71—145
WD        Danny Lee         

DP World Tour
BMW International Open
Golfclub München Eichenried, Munich, Germany
Winner Haotong Li          62-67-67-70—266           €340,000
3            Ryan Fox             66-64-71-67—268           €126,000
67          Wade Ormsby   68-72-78-72—290           €4,300
MC        Zach Murray      71-71—142
MC        Elvis Smylie        74-71—145
MC        Scott Hend         76-78—154
WD        Maverick Antcliff             78

Japan Golf Tour
Japan Players Championship
Nishinasuno Country Club, Tochigi
Winner Yuki Inamori      68-66-66-65—265           ¥10m
T47        David Bransdon 68-71-71-70—280           ¥145,200
T52        Andrew Evans   69-71-68-73—281           ¥125,500
MC        Michael Hendry 74-67—141
MC        Adam Bland       72-71—143MC        Dylan Perry        73-71—144

Asian Tour
Kolon The 64th Korea Open Golf Championship
Woo Jeong Hills Country Club, Korea
Winner Minkyu Kim        72-71-68-69—280           $US383,304.94
5            Junseok Lee       72-72-66-72—282           $35,775.13
T51        Wonjoon Lee     76-70-74-75—295           $4,224.87
MC        Kevin Yuan         76-74—150
MC        Cory Crawford  81-70—151
MC        Kevin Chun        73-79—152
MC        Ben Eccles          78-74—152

Korn Ferry Tour
Live and Work in Maine Open
Falmouth Country Club, Falmouth, Maine
Winner Pierceson Coody             69-62-67-66—264           $US135,000
T15        Curtis Luck         75-66-70-65—276           $10,623
MC        Rhein Gibson     71-73—144
MC        Nick Voke           71-74—145
MC        Ryan Ruffels      75-76—151

Challenge Tour
Blot Open de Bretagne
Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France
Winner Alfie Plant          65-67-69-68—269           €40,000
T30        Jack Thompson 66-76-70-70—282           €1,875

Epson Tour
Island Resort Championship
Sweetgrass Golf Club, Harris, Michigan
Winner Ssu-Chia Cheng 68-64-67—199  $US31,875
T10        Gabriela Ruffels 70-70-69—209  $3,667
T26        Amelia Garvey   68-67-77—212  $1,784
T45        Karis Davidson  67-73-74—214  $973
T54        Soo Jin Lee         71-68-76—215  $794
MC        Robyn Choi        71-72—143
MC        Grace Kim           69-74—143
MC        Emily Mahar      68-76—144
MC        Hira Naveed       73-73—146
MC        Julienne Soo      73-73—146
MC        Laura Hoskin     75-75—150
MC        Stephanie Na     79-75—154

Ladies European Tour
Tipsport Czech Ladies Open
Beroun Golf Club, Czech Republic
Winner Jana Melichova (a)          68-65-69—202  ——
MC        Amy Walsh        73-75—148

LET Access Series
Golf Vlaanderen LETAS Trophy
Millennium Golf, Belgium
Winner Kristalle Blum    69-67-75—211  €6,400
2            Momoka Kobori              71-73-68—212  €2,926.67
T40        Stefanie Hall      75-72-77—224  €504

PGA TOUR Latinoamerica
Bupa Tour Championship
PGA Riviera Maya, Tulum, Mexico
Winner Jesus Montenegro          68-71-71-72—282
T36        Denzel Ieremia  71-68-80-77—296