Australian Scott Hend claimed a second Venetian Macao Open victory in three years last month after holding off title holder Anirban Lahiri and Chiragh Kumar of India with an impressive final round of five-under-par 66.
Big-hitting Hend cruised to a three-stroke triumph at the Macau Golf and Country Club to become only the second player after China’s Zhang Lian-wei to win twice at the US$1 million Asian Tour event with a tournament record of 20-under-par 264.
It was sweet revenge for the 42-year-old Aussie who was pipped by Lahiri last year as he collected the winner’s cheque of US$180,000. Lahiri and Kumar shared second place after closing with a 66 and 65 respectively.
"[I] Feel relieved and rewarded as I’ve worked hard the last few weeks in Europe,” said Hend, who entered the last day with a three-shot cushion.
"I knew Anirban wasn’t going to go away. He’s a great player and I just went out there with the aim to shoot a good score as I knew they had to catch me. I can’t really remember much about 2013 [his win]. I remember more about last year where I didn’t play solid down the stretch and Anirban got me. So this year, it is a different feeling.”
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