Hend storms to 3-shot Macau win
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Australian Scott Hend comfortably kept the chasing pack at bay to win the Venetian Macau Open by three strokes yesterday for his third title of the year.
India’s Anirban Lahiri hit a scorching 9-under-par 62 to match the course record to finish second while four-time major winner Ernie Els shared third spot with Elmer Salvador of the Philippines at the US$800,000 Asian Tour event.
A victory looked unlikely for Hend after his opening-round 74 but the big-hitting Australian swung back to contention with a 64 in Friday’s second round.
“It’s important to win again this week, for the third time, it feels good,” Hend, who mixed five birdies with a lone bogey, said. “Thursday was a difficult day, mentally and physically.
“Three wins in a year is definitely the best golf of my career. There are some big tournaments coming up and it’ll be nice to perform well in those. The year hasn’t finished yet.”
Els was hot on the heels of Hend, who was leading by four strokes coming into the final round, with some early birdies yesterday. The South African gained three shots within the first six holes but a bogey on the ninth halted his momentum.
“It was very frustrating. I started off nicely again and then made a soft bogey on nine. I couldn’t afford any mistakes,” the 44-year-old said.
Pedal on the metal
“I needed to keep the pedal on the metal but I made that mistake and I didn’t play the back nine all that well either. Tough weekend but I think Scott was very strong.”
The 26-year-old Lahiri started with a birdie and an eagle on the first two holes. He added seven more shots with a lone bogey coming on the eighth hole.
In Cheonan, the Korea Open finished in bizarre circumstances yesterday with Kang Sung-hoon celebrating a one-shot victory after a controversial penalty for Kim Hyung-tae and poor putting by Rory McIlroy ended their title hopes.
Overnight leader Kim was on course for victory standing on the 17th tee but was told by an official he had been penalized two strokes for grounding a club in an area deemed to be a hazard on the 13th hole.
The South Korean then bogeyed the 17th and could only par the 18th to miss out on the OneAsia title after a 6-over 77.
That left compatriot Kang, who carded a final-round 69, to bag the title as Kim finished tied second on 3-under with McIlroy and the South Korean trio of Lee Sang-hee, Mo Joong-kyung and amateur Lee Chang-woo.
Former world No. 1 McIlroy started the day 10 strokes back but the Northern Irishman put on a masterclass tee-to-green despite another difficult day on the greens as he signed for a 4-under 67 and was left wondering what might have been.
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