Big-hitting Aussie Scott Hend was all set to smack a drunken spectator in the mouth on route to taking a one shot lead into the final round of the BMW PGA Championship.
Hend, 43 eagled the closing hole for a second day in succession in a round of 73 for a nine under par and ending three better than playing partner, a struggling Masters champion Danny Willett who dropped five shots over his closing 10 holes in a 76 to tumble into a tie for fifth place at six under par.
The eagle at 18 came with Hend hitting a 160-yard 8-iron over water guarding the green and then with his ball rolling off a bank behind the green and stopping three feet from the flag.
Scott Hend ready to smack a drunken spectator in the mouth on day three of the BMW PGAS Championship.
Hend, who is looking to become the first Australian-born winner at Wentworth in 26 years, received no favours from the near entire England-born crowd as he teed-up alongside the Augusta winning hero but he clearly didn’t deserve what began to take place on par three 14th hole.
The 14th is one of the more favoured on-course ‘watering holes’ with a large bar and concessions stand near the tee.
“Danny was getting all the crowd support but I had no problem with that but there was a couple of guys out there in the 30s who were really over the top, and it wasn’t very nice what they were saying”, said Hend.
“It was quite rude and personal what they were saying and if was up to me I would of had them thrown out.
“It’s not Danny’s fault but we are all out here playing golf but it’s not fair being drunk and being smart arses as these two guys were, and it was totally different what they were saying to me compared to if Australia was playing England in cricket or rugby league or rugby.
“Danny and I are mates. I’ve played with him before and he wants me to do well and I want him to do well but when you get hecklers in the crowd and saying pretty rude things as they were, then I was ready to punch them.
“I didn’t see any marshals around but then when I mentioned to Danny I was going over to speak to them, he was just waiting for it all to kick off (smiling).
“So Danny was just waiting for me to punch one of the guys in the mouth as that’s how bad the guy was getting as he had been hurling abuse before I hit my first putt at 14, and just wouldn’t shut up from there on.”
While Hend could become the first Australian winner at Wentworth since Victorian Mike Harwood in 1990, he reminded us of another winless run he ended in 2014.
“I ended Greg’s (Norman) run in winning the Hong Kong Open two years ago,” he said.
In fact, Hend’s victory in suburban Fanling ended a 31-year ‘Down Under’ drought in the colonial outpost after Greg Norman captured a second Hong Kong Open in 1983 and four years after first winning in 1979.
Also if successful, Hend would become the third Australian to win twice this season after fellow Queenslander’s Adam Scott and Jason Day captured back-to-back victories in the States.
And if Hend does win at Wentworth he would become the seventh Australian to win on this year’s Race to Dubai schedule.
On the plus side, is the fact has won 12 times in his career but then in eight different countries including his most recent victory in the co-sanctioned True Thailand Classic, and seven tournaments ago.
However, what would taste sweet for Hend is a first victory on European soil and after first playing a full European Tour schedule in 2010.
“It’s going to be nice tomorrow even though the board is pretty congested,” he said.
“The golf course is starting to firm up and if the sun stays out it will become quite tricky, so it’s always great to have a couple of shots in the pocket and just see what happens.
“But then it would be nice to still be the leader after 72 holes though right now there is a lot of guys up there and it’s going to be a very competitive.
“So looking forward to it.”
In addition, if Hend does succeed he would gain a three-year exemption into The Open and also avoid having to tee-up in Monday’s 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier at nearby Walton Heath, as the BMW PGA champion will be exempt, if not otherwise, into the June 16th commencing event at Oakmont.
