Australian Scott Hend has revealed that good old fashion hard work and perseverance have been the key to his phenomenal season on the Asian Tour as he turns his attention to the biggest two tournaments in the region in the next fortnight. Hend claimed his third victory of the season at the Venetian Macau Open on Sunday, defeating a classy field which included four-time Major winner Ernie Els and six Asian Tour Order of Merit champions as he reduced the gap with current Merit leader Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand. While Hend s masterclass was for all to see on the golf course, what went on behind the scenes were countless hours of training honed at perfecting his game. I&aposm just working hard, mate. I&aposm working physically and mentally on my game. You can&apost work on your game and not work on yourself physically and mentally, because they have all got to be pretty much as strong as each other, said Hend. And you can&apost just work on your strong points. You have to work on your weaknesses. There&aposs a lot to do with it. And also dietary wise, I&aposm trying to eat a little bit smarter and drink a little bit smarter. It&aposs just all little things through life that you try and do to achieve a goal, added the 40-year-old. The big-hitting Australian trails Kiradech by slightly under US$170,000 on the merit list and is quietly confident he can reach the summit if he continues his exploits at this week s US$7 million CIMB Classic in Malaysia, which is sanctioned with the PGA TOUR, and next week s US$8.5 million World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. Well, quietly, I&aposm confident with my game and I&aposve just got to keep approaching it the way I ve been doing. I like both golf courses, the KLGCC and Sheshan and it ll be nice to see how we stake up. It ll be a good test for us Asian Tour players, said Hend. Winning the Order of Merit is everyone s target during the year. I can just do what I can do. If he plays better than I do for the rest of the year, then he&aposs going to win the Order of Merit, that&aposs all there is to it. I can&apost control what he does. All I can control is what I do, added Hend. Key to Hend s success is also his partnership with fellow Australian Tony Carolan who used to ply his trade on the Asian Tour but assumes the role of Hend s trusty caddie today. It&aposs great, because we are great friends. When he was out on the Asian Tour playing, we played a lot of practice rounds together. We room together a lot. So I feel pretty honoured for him to actually say yes and come out and caddie for me until he gets his chance to go back to Q School and get his card back, which I have no doubt he&aposll do because he&aposs such a great player himself, said Hend. Their close friendship also extends to the golf course and has proven to be pivotal to Hend s rousing success on the region s premier Tour this season. On the golf course, it&aposs good, because we sort of play golf a little differently, and the perspective from both sides has sort of helped me to channel my game the way it&aposs been going, said Hend. Tony and I have got our little boxes that we are trying to tick every week, and some weeks it works, some weeks it doesn&apost. Luckily for me, it&aposs worked a couple of times this year, added Hend. Hend s wins on the Asian Tour this season have seen him lap up the adulation of his fans and earn plaudits from the golfing world which included Els.
Author: Asian Tour