With the
2016 Race to Dubai now in the record books, Australia’s two most successful
campaigners for the season can now turn their attention to kicking off 2017 in
style at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast.
With the
2016 Race to Dubai now in the record books, Australia’s two most successful
campaigners for the season can now turn their attention to kicking off 2017 in
style at the RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast.
Hend and
Fraser not only represented Australia at golf’s historic return to the Olympics
in August but were the only two Down Under campaigners to qualify all the way
to the Race to Dubai finale in Dubai at the weekend.
The DP
World Tour Championship, the last to be staged after the European Tour
announced the scrapping of the Finals Series for 2017, is reserved for only the
top-60 in the points table, testament to the play of both Fraser and Hend
throughout the year.
While
neither had their best week in Dubai both now have a week off to recharge the
batteries before getting 2017 underway on the Gold Coast.
Hend was
the pick of the pair at the weekend posting rounds of 72-73-69-70 to reach
4-under for the tournament and T40.
Fraser
saved his best till last signing for a final round 67 to go with scores of
69-74-78 to be even par and T52.
Both Hend
and Fraser posted victories on the European Tour this year, Fraser winning for
the first time in six years at February’s Maybank Championship while Hend was
victorious a month later in Thailand.
It was
Fraser’s third career European Tour title and only top-10 for the year in a
regular Tour event although he did finish T5 at the Olympics in Rio.
The True
Thailand Classic was Hend’s second Tour win to go with the Hong Kong Open of
2014.
Hend also
posted a ninth career victory on the Asian Tour when he captured the Queen’s
Cup in June.