Back-to-back birdies at the end of his round earned Mark Hensby a share of the lead at the US Senior Open halfway point at The Broadmoor in Colorado. Hensby started his second round three shots behind after early advances by Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink. By the end of the day, Hensby joined them at 6-under, three strokes clear of the field.
Hensby overcame challenges from Round 1, beginning his second round on the back nine and making par to level with the card. He countered a bogey on hole 10 with a birdie on the par-3 12th, sinking several key par putts within 10 feet to stay near the top of the leaderboard.
The USGA tweeted: “The eagle doesn’t *quite* land for Mark Hensby at the last. But it’s still a casual two-putt birdie for a share of the 36-hole U.S. Senior Open lead.”
At age 53, Hensby birdied three of his first four holes on the front nine but lost ground with bogeys on holes five and seven. However, he regained momentum with consecutive birdies on holes eight and nine, closing out another 3-under 67 to join Harrington and Cink in leading into the weekend.
“I played really well on the back nine and then got off to a good start on the front nine again,” said Hensby. “Then got a little scratchy. But changing some things in my swing, it seems like it just disappears at certain times. But overall, I played pretty solid today.”
He continued: “I don’t think I fired at a flag on the back nine today, which was my first nine. I was just trying to get it to spots where I was comfortable two-putting or trying to two-putt from.”
The USGA also noted: “Create your own luck! Mark Hensby shrugs off a bad break and makes birdie anyway to pull within 1 of the lead.”
Other notable performances included Scott Hend’s late-round surge with a score of 1-under 69 moving him into the top ten through two rounds. Stuart Appleby, Rod Pampling, and Steven Alker were tied for 15th.
