The Making of Ben Henkel

Let’s get one thing straight here first-up – there’s a very broad gap between Ben Henkel and Marc Leishman.

That’s not to say Henkel – like Leishman, a laconic country Victorian boy who was never preordained as the next big thing – won’t get to his level, yet for now it remains a big gap.

But with a comparatively late start to his pro career, Henkel is just starting to show similar traits.

Leishman was a slow burn for the first half of what has become an illustrious career.

But it took a long time on a lot of different stages to become the man who ultimately reached No.12 in the world rankings.

He won on the second tier of the Australian tour, almost anonymously in Korea and on the then Nationwide Tour before he became that great misnomer, an “overnight sensation”.

Henkel, 24, endured injuries from a calamitous car crash in 2019 that threatened not only his golf career but his mobility.

So when he had recovered and determined golf was his path, there was more than a hint of rush.

Henkel was in a hurry, and his on-course demeanour was occasionally abrasive for someone who’s softly spoken and polite by nature.

He was trying hard, too hard maybe, thinking a win would never come.

Then, in tiny Clermont – west of Rockhampton and about as far from the big time as golf gets – he finally won a pro-am in June last year.

He followed with another in Maryborough, then again in Cohuna, doing enough to keep the wolves from the door, but not even enough to make the sports page of his hometown Geelong Advertiser.

He then broke through at 2-day tournament level with a win to qualify for last year’s Ford NSW Open at Catalina Club in Bateman’s Bay.

And the penny began to drop. 

Then came his victory on the main PGA Tour at the Gippsland Super 6. You can see where this is going.

Henkel won Australia’s richest pro-am at Redcliffe this year, backed up with another win at RQ level at Teven this year, a pro-am win at Mt Coolum and a runner-up finish at the Papua New Guinea Open.

While these are obviously great resumé builders, it’s more the belief being built that ultimately could prove to be the most important.

And for those who don’t get to see him at every one of these far-flung stops, the outward on-course approach has changed dramatically along with it.

Errant shots that once disturbed him for extended periods of a round are now washed away by the next stroke. 

The “necessity” to shoot 64 every round is long gone, replaced by the far more commercial search for four rounds of 69.

And here we are.

One round to play in one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious golf tournaments, and Henkel is poised for victory at seven under at The Vintage.

He’s three shots clear of four people, with another eight one shot further back.

But in some ways, Sunday is all about Ben Henkel.

If his zen-like equanimity can be maintained through what is undoubtedly the biggest day of his fledgling professional career, he’ll have taken the next step on the Leishman path.

And if we throw in that he just this week advanced through the first round of the Asian Tour qualifying school in Los Angeles (the second comes two weeks after next month’s Australian Open), you’ll begin to at least vaguely imagine the similarities.

Is it too late for Henkel to Leishman?

Maybe.

Probably.

But a Kel Nagle Cup in his cupboard will keep him on track.