CLEARWATER, Florida – When Mark Hensby was getting started in professional golf he was definitely different.
He moved from Australia to the Chicago area in 1996, devoted himself to golf and promptly won the Illinois State Amateur. He was known to occasionally sleep in his car in the Cog Hill parking lot in those days, but his game continued to improve. In 1998 he won the Illinois Open and in 2004 he took the John Deere Classic, Illinois’ longstanding event on the PGA Tour.
Hensby made a good career after that, even playing on one of the Presidents Cup teams, but not without a touch of the unusual mixed in. In 2009, Hensby took a break from golf to ride 430 miles in a charity cycling event in Arizona, where he has been a long-time resident. Not many pro tour golfers would attempt something like that.
So, this week is different, but Hensby is there. The Skechers World Champions Cup, a stop on PGA Tour Champions at Feather Sound Country Club, is the most unusual competition in professional golf. I haven’t heard of anything like it in my 50-plus years covering golf, and this one doesn’t have much of a history. The first playing was at The Concession, in Bradenton, FL., in 2023. The event wasn’t played in 2024.
Play is in sixsomes over only nine holes with three formats – six-ball, Scottish Six-somes and singles – being used. Hensby was a late addition to the select field thanks to a solid season on PGA Tour Champions. He had five top-10 finishes and was No. 26 on the season money list in 2025.
There were two-man teams from Team USA, Team International and Team Europe competing for most of it. The teams played together in six nine-hole matches spread over Thursday and Friday.
Matches weren’t played on Saturday. Pro-ams are usually held on Wednesday — the day before the real competition begins — but this time the amateurs got to play with the pros on the day before they decided a championship. The pro-am was over 18 holes, much different than the tourney format, and the course wasn’t open to the public on pro-am day.
All Skechers World Champions Cup competitors are regulars on the 50-and-over Champions circuit. Jim Furyk (USA}, Darren Clarke (Europe) and Mike Weir (International) are the team captains. Bernhard Langer was ill and didn’t play for the Europeans in the first three matches. Hensby is on the International team based on his Australian background.
Skechers provided shoes for all the players as well as their caddies, spouses and tournament volunteers. The unusual format forced some adjustment for the players, especially Hensby. Six players teed off in each group on each hole in the team portion.
“You just pay attention and take your time,’’ said Hensby. “It’s a little different. Four times I walked where there were still guys to hit, so that’s definitely different.’’
Hensby was paired with Y.E. Yang, from South Korea, in the first two rounds, and they were the top point-producers in both of them. Friday turned sour for Hensby after that, as his team was the lowest point-producer in the morning session and Hensby couldn’t play in the afternoon.
“At dinner last night Mark said he might only go nine holes (on Friday),’’ said Charlie Wi, an alternate on the International squad. “I didn’t put much into it, but today he wasn’t feeling well and said he couldn’t feel his clubs.’’
So, Wi took Hensby’s place – and that presented an odd spin. When Hensby captured his only PGA Tour Champions victory in Texas in 2023 he defeated Wi in a playoff. Whether he’ll be back in the lineup Sunday is uncertain, but the competition is tight.
Europe leads with 109.5 points to 108 for the U.S. and 106.5 for the International team. The tourney concludes on Sunday with 12 singles matches. TV coverage on the final day will be split between Golf Channel and ABC.
