Scott Hend wins Hong Kong Open

Scott Hend of Australia wins the Hong Kong Open in a sudden-death playoff.

Scott Hend wins Hong Kong Open
Scott Hend wins Hong Kong Open
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Australia’s Scott Hend came through a playoff against Angelo Que of The Philippines to win the Hong Kong Open in Fanling. It was Hend’s first European Tour victory.

Australia’s Scott Hend came through a playoff against Angelo Que of The Philippines to win the Hong Kong Open in Fanling. It was Hend’s first European Tour victory.

Another Australian, Marcus Fraser, held the lead coming into the final round at Hong Kong Golf Club. But a double bogey on the first hole struck a blow to his challenge that he was unable to fully recover from.

England’s Mark Foster took the lead with two early birdies, but a double bogey also stopped the Englishman in his tracks. Foster’s misfortune came on the 9th when his pulled approach struck a cart path.

At the start of the back nine, Hend moved to the head of proceedings with birdies at the 10th and 12th holes. Que joined the Australian at the top of the board with a birdie on the 14th.

Hend took the lead again with a birdie on the 14th, before Que responded with a fabulous approach to the home hole, setting up a closing birdie.

Both men were at 13-under-par at that stage, with Que safely in the clubhouse. Hend couldn’t find another birdie over his final holes and, in fact, he did well to save par on the 72nd. He finished on 13-under-par and a playoff ensued.

A par was enough for Hend to win on the first extra hole after Que failed to get up-and-down after missing the green on Hong Kong GC’s difficult 18th.

“This is one to treasure,” said Hend. “Unfortunately Angelo made a bogey, I would have rather one of us made a birdie because he’s a great guy and it would be nice to earn the win on a positive note. But I’ll take the win, I’m ecstatic.”

The victory means Hend is now exempt on the European Tour to the end of the 2015 season.

Hong Kong Open Hong Kong Golf Club, Fanling, Hong Kong Oct 16-19, purse €1,000,000, par 70

1    Scott Hend (Aus)        67    66    67    67    267    €171,843 2    Angelo Que (Phi)        65    69    67    66    267    €114,562 3    Kevin Phelan (Ire)    69    67    67    66    269    €64,546 4    Mark Foster (Eng)    67    68    66    69    270    €51,554 T5    Lucas Bjerregaard (Nor) 69    68    67    67    271    €34,129 T5    S.S.P Chowrasia (Ind)    69    65    70    67    271    €34,129 T5    Ernie Els (RSA)        66    65    71    69    271    €34,129 T5    Marcus Fraser (Aus)    67    67    65    72    271    €34,129 T9    Eduardo De La Riva (Esp) 68    67    70    67    272    €20,896 T9    Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)    66    67    69    70    272    €20,896 T9    Cameron Smith (Aus)    68    65    69    70    272    €20,896

Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage

Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly. 

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?