Mark Hensby Bio
Mark Adam Hensby (born 29 June 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Standing 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) tall, he is best known for his lone PGA Tour title at the 2004 John Deere Classic and a standout 2005 season that saw him rise into the top 30 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Across his career he has competed on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, the Web.com Tour, and the PGA Tour Champions, collecting seven professional victories in total.
Hensby now lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his wife, Kimberly Hensby, and their two children. After a difficult stretch marked by injuries and a 2017 anti-doping suspension, he returned to prominence in 2023 with his first win on the PGA Tour Champions.
Early Life and Background
Mark Hensby was born on 29 June 1971 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to Tamworth, New South Wales, where he grew up alongside his two brothers, Darren and Jason. His parents later divorced, an upheaval that shaped his formative years and fueled a competitive streak that would later define his golf career.
Hensby first picked up a golf club at the age of 12. Within two years he had shaved his handicap down to 3, an unusually rapid rise that hinted at his future as a professional. He attended Tamworth High School, but left at 16 to work as a postman, spending most of his free hours on the golf course refining his game.
Path to Professional Golf
In 1994, at age 23, Hensby made the leap and moved to the United States to chase a professional career. He initially stayed with family friends, and at one point slept in his car at the Cog Hill Golf & Country Club near Chicago, Illinois, while trying to break into the game. That same year he captured the Illinois State Amateur Championship, an early signal of his promise on American soil.
Hensby turned professional in 1994 and spent several seasons grinding on the PGA Tour’s developmental circuit. His persistence paid off in 2000, when a second-place finish on the Buy.com Tour money list earned him a place on the PGA Tour for the 2001 season.
Mark Hensby Career
Early Career (1994–2000)
Hensby’s transition to the paid ranks began inauspiciously. As a developmental-tour regular, he battled through mini-tour events across the United States, gradually building the kind of competitive resume that catches the eye of PGA Tour scouts. He picked up his third win on the second-tier tour in 2003, finishing seventh on the Nationwide Tour money list to graduate directly back to the PGA Tour for a second time.
His rookie season on the PGA Tour in 2001 was a difficult learning curve, and he did not earn enough to keep his card. A failed run at qualifying school forced him back to the developmental tour for 2002, where he regrouped and rebuilt the form that had previously carried him to the game’s top level.
PGA Tour Breakthrough (2003–2005)
The 2004 season marked Hensby’s true arrival on the PGA Tour. He captured his first victory at the John Deere Classic, defeating John E. Morgan in a sudden-death playoff, and added several other top-10 finishes to climb to 15th on the year-end money list.
If 2004 announced him, 2005 cemented his reputation. Hensby made the cut in all four major championships, finishing tied for 5th at the Masters, tied for 3rd at the U.S. Open, and tied for 15th at The Open Championship at St Andrews, where he trailed Tiger Woods after the opening round. He added the Scandinavian Masters on the European Tour, beating Henrik Stenson in a playoff in Stockholm after birdieing the final two holes in regulation. That summer he reached a career-high 27th in the Official World Golf Ranking and was named to the International team for the 2005 Presidents Cup.
PGA Tour Champions Era (2022–Present)
After years limited by injuries, three shoulder surgeries, and two unsuccessful attempts at European Tour qualifying school, Hensby began a new chapter on the PGA Tour Champions. In April 2023, he won the Invited Celebrity Classic in Irving, Texas, his first victory on the senior circuit, parring the fourth playoff hole after opponent Charlie Wi found the water with his approach shot.
The Champions win revived a career that had appeared to stall. Since then, Hensby has continued to compete regularly on the over-50 circuit, building on the form that earned him his senior-tour breakthrough.
Notable Events and Milestones
Beyond his PGA Tour breakthrough, Hensby’s career is defined by his dramatic playoff victories and his major-championship summer of 2005. He went 1-0 in PGA Tour playoffs, 1-0 in European Tour playoffs, 2-1 on the Nationwide Tour playoffs, and 1-0 in PGA Tour Champions playoffs, an unblemished record in sudden-death golf at the top level. His major appearances that year, capped by the Presidents Cup selection, mark the high-water mark of his career to date.
Mark Hensby Career Wins
Mark Hensby has recorded seven professional victories across multiple tours, with wins on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, the Korn Ferry Tour (formerly the Nationwide and Buy.com Tours), the PGA Tour Champions, and one other recognized tour. Each of his top-tier victories has come in playoff fashion, a testament to his clutch play under pressure.
PGA Tour and European Tour Highlights
Hensby’s lone PGA Tour title came at the 2004 John Deere Classic, where he outlasted John E. Morgan in sudden death. A year later, he lifted the Scandinavian Masters trophy on the European Tour, defeating Sweden’s Henrik Stenson in a playoff in Stockholm after a dramatic closing stretch of two birdies in regulation. Both wins showcased the aggressive late-round golf that became his signature.
PGA Tour Champions Highlights
In April 2023, Hensby added the Invited Celebrity Classic to his resume, his first PGA Tour Champions title. He won in a playoff, parring the fourth extra hole after Charlie Wi hit his approach into the water. The victory marked a full-circle moment more than 18 years after his PGA Tour breakthrough.
Other Wins and Performances
Hensby collected three wins on what is now the Korn Ferry Tour, including a third triumph in 2003 that helped him return to the PGA Tour, and one additional win on another recognized tour during the developmental phase of his career.
Mark Hensby Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Hensby grew up in Tamworth, New South Wales, with his two brothers, Darren and Jason. The brothers were introduced to golf in their teens, an environment that helped shape Hensby’s eventual path to the professional game. His parents’ divorce during his youth added a layer of difficulty to his early life, and he has often credited his working-class upbringing, including a stint as a postman, with instilling the discipline his career would later demand.
Personal Life
Hensby is married to Kimberly Hensby, his longtime partner. The couple has two children and lives in Mesa, Arizona, where Hensby has been based for much of his American career. In December 2017, he was suspended for one year, retroactive to 26 October, for violating the PGA Tour’s anti-doping policy. Speaking publicly after the announcement, he pushed back on the characterization of his actions, asking observers not to label him a cheater.
2025 Season Performance
Mark Hensby entered 2025 as a fully active member of the PGA Tour Champions, where his April 2023 Invited Celebrity Classic victory continues to anchor his schedule. The 2025 campaign represents an opportunity to build on the momentum of that breakthrough senior win and add to a career resume that already spans three decades on professional tours.
With his shoulder fully recovered and his confidence restored, Hensby has shown he can still contend on the Champions circuit. His playoff pedigree, including a perfect 1-0 record in sudden-death events on the senior tour, gives him a competitive edge in tight finishes.
Looking ahead, Hensby’s primary goals for 2025 are consistency on the Champions circuit and another playoff-style win to add to his growing senior resume. Should he recapture the form that carried him to a career-high 27th in the world in 2005, he could yet add another memorable chapter to a career defined by perseverance and late-round heroics.