A blistering final round 65 has rocketed Scott Hend into outright fourth place in the Porsche European Open, the €100,000 cheque also vaulting him into the all important top 60 on the Race to Dubai standings.
A blistering final round 65 has rocketed Scott Hend into outright fourth place in the Porsche European Open, the €100,000 cheque also vaulting him into the all important top 60 on the Race to Dubai standings.
The big hitting Queenslander played his
best golf since May to post his third top 10 of the year, four sub-70 rounds a
sign that his confidence is returning after an indifferent run of form.
While his final round was flawless,
including a five birdie barrage in the final nine holes, the result could have
been even better for Hend who made two double bogies in his Saturday round.
The 42-year-old European Tour rookie is the
ultimate confidence player who tends to get into runs of hot form and with the
Race to Dubai events beginning at the end of next month his timing couldn’t be
better.
The top 60 in the standings are eligible
for the bonus pool to be divided up at the end of the four tournament swing and
while at 60th his position is not assured a handful of good results
will be enough to see him in the mix.
In four weeks Hend will defend the Hong
Kong Open title he won last year to earn European Tour status before the big
money events get underway in Turkey the following week.
Hend was one of five Australians to make
the cut in Germany, Richard Green next best at T12. The left hander started hot
with an opening 6-under-par 65 to be just one out of the lead but trod water in
his middle two rounds before leaping 19 places up the leader board with a final
round 67.
Andrew Dodt (T36), Marcus Fraser (T44) and
Wade Ormsby (64) were the others to make the cut, Jason Scrivener running out
of momentum after four top 20 finishes in his last five starts to miss the
weekend along with Daniel Gaunt.