Vorbeck, Germany: Legends Tour rookie Scott Hend had a back nine of dreams in his maiden event on tour to win the WINSTONgolf Senior Open in Germany.
At the start of the final round at WINSTONgolf there were 13 players within four shots of the leader, Denmark’s Steen Tinning. Slipping back off the lead at the start of day, Hend was at one point five shots back after the first four holes.
But he miraculously birdied six of his last seven holes en-route to a one-shot victory, after playing partner Phillip Archer had the opportunity to forca a play-off but missed an eight-footer on the final hole.
“To win on any Tour is great” Hend said. “I had some pretty high expectations coming out here and I knew the guys were very solid players. Unfortunate for Phillip to miss that putt on the last green not to have a play-off, but it feels great to get a win under the belt. It’s a new start to the career at 50+.”
Six birdies in the last seven
“For the first 45 holes or so I really didn’t hole any putts and the last seven holes I hit it inside 12 feet and made the putts. On 18 I got a bad lie of the tee shot and made a par unfortunately, but I can’t complain with six birdies in the last seven. I didn’t look at the leaderboards until the 12th tee and I said to my caddie ‘we’ve got to pretty much birdie in to have a chance here’. Fortunately enough we came close to that and it was good enough to get over the line.”
MCB Road to Mauritius number one Peter Baker finished alongside Archer in a tie for second to extend his advantage at the top of the rankings. Fellow three-time winner this season Adilson da Silva finished in a tie for fourth is in third on the Order of Merit, while Hend jumps straight into 19th position on the rankings.
The next event on the Legends Tour is the Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open at San Domenico Golf on October 26th-28th 2023.
