10 things to know about Scott Hend
After nine events played and about a third of the way through the 2019 schedule, Olle Nordberg takes a look at some of the key statistics and see which players have been performing well throughout the first few months of the season.
By Olle Nordberg, Former Asian Tour and European Tour professional
*Note from the Author: In order to make the stats more valid we need a reasonable sample size, so for this exercise I have required eight rounds completed as a minimum for a player’s data to count in the rankings.
In addition to the official Asian Tour stat categories, I have also added a combination-stat Total Driving (Driving Distance + Driving Accuracy) which is not listed on the website.
Driving Distance
That the old saying “drive for show and putt for dough” has lost at least some of its relevancy in the modern game is no secret, we can just look at the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) to see what kind of players are ranked at and near the top.
On the Asian Tour, the current Driving Distance leader is power player Kurt Kitayama who used his length off the tee to help him win last year’s AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, which he followed up a few months later with a victory at the Oman Open on the European Tour in March.
There are also two more recent Asian Tour winners in the top-10 in this category: the current Habitat for Humanity Standings leader and 2016 Order of Merit champion Scott Hend, who by winning the Maybank Championship in March became the most successful international player on the Asian Tour with 10 victories, and Q-School graduate Zach Murray who won the 100th New Zealand Open in only his third start on the Asian Tour.
Driving Accuracy
Category leader Adilson Da Silva has not won yet in 2019, but he recorded his first ever Asian Tour victory last year in the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on a course that demands precision off the tee. His accuracy has been very impressive so far this season, only missing an average of roughly two fairways per round.
The closest anyone in the top-10 of this category has been to a win this season is Ajeetesh Sandhu finishing second in the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open in Bangladesh, only one shot behind the winner Sadom Kaewkanjana.
Total Driving
A combination-stat that is a very good measure of a player’s over-all driving performance by combining Driving Distance and Accuracy.
The 2018 Fiji International champion Gaganjeet Bhullar has shown remarkable driving skills with both length and precision off the tee, ranking in the top-10 in both individual categories.
This list also includes Scott Hend, and a player who has been the most consistent high performer on the 2019 Asian Tour, Jazz Janewattananond.
Winning twice on the Asian Tour prior to this year, Jazz opened his season with a victory at the SMBC Singapore Open and followed it up with a fourth in the 100th New Zealand Open, third at the Maybank Championship, tied-fifth at Bangabandhu Cup and a tied-14th at the recent PGA Championship.
Greens in Regulation (GIR)
Hitting greens in regulation is of course very important for consistently shooting good scores, the more greens you hit the more putts for birdies you will have.
As mentioned above, category leader Jazz has had quite the start to the season and perhaps it’s easy to see why when we consider his Total Driving stats in combination with his GIR percentage. Missing only four greens a round on average makes for a lot of birdie chances.
In addition to Jazz, five other players in these two categories overlap: Gaganjeet Bhullar, Scott Hend, Shaun Norris and Gavin Green. It should be safe to say that rankings in these two categories are closely related.
Scrambling
Getting it up-and-down when missing the green can be very important for maintaining momentum when playing well, or to minimize damage on a day when things are not going your way.
Current leader Rashid Khan has done this nearly three-quarters of the time this season, and it may be one of the reasons why he has recorded top-10 finishes in both his Asian Tour starts this season: a third-place finish in the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open and a tied-10th in the Hero Indian Open.
Jazz is also ranked highly in this category, adding to his already solid over-all game this season.
Putts per Green in Regulation
In my opinion a much better way of measuring putting performance than Putts per Round, since that number will likely look increasingly better the less greens a player hits in regulation.
The 2014 Order of Merit champion David Lipsky has posted some very solid putting stats in his two appearances this year, the Maybank Championship and the Volvo China Open, finishing tied-fifth in China and a tied-13th in Malaysia.
A close second is tour rookie Sadom Kaewkanjana who won the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open in his first start after graduating from Q-School, a feat never accomplished before on the Asian Tour.
Fellow tournament winners Zach Murray and Scott Hend are also currently in the top-10, proving that they are not only powerful off the tee but have great touch on the greens as well.
Ibaraki, Japan, June 3: Asian Tour stalwart Yuta Ikeda captured his 21st victory on the Japan Golf Tour after closing with a one-under-par 71 to win by one shot over American Chan Kim at the Gate Way to The Open Mizuno Open on Sunday.
The 33-year-old Ikeda, who has won at least a tournament in every single season on his domestic circuit since breaking through in 2009, also earned a coveted spot for The 148th Open, where he will be making his eighth and fifth consecutive appearance at Royal Portrush next month.
Ikeda, a two-time Asian Tour winner, fired five birdies against four bogeys to compile a four-day total of seven-under-par 281 at the Royal Country Club located in Ibaraki Prefecture, north of Tokyo, which played to a distance of 8,016 yards in the third round.
Chan matched Ikeda’s final round efforts to settle for runner-up finish while Asian Tour members Sanghyun Park of Korea and Thailand’s Gunn Charoenkul posted impressive rounds of 67 and 68 respectively to share third place on matching 284s.
The trio also punched their tickets to The 148th Open by virtue of being the leading four players who finish in the top-12 and ties and not already exempt at The Mizuno Open, which is part of The Open Qualifying Series.
Rising star Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand, a three-time Asian Tour winner, kept up his chase for a spot in the upcoming U.S. Open by closing with a 71 to finish in a share of fifth place at The Mizuno Open.
The 23-year-old Jazz, who was ranked 70th place on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) last week, needs to break into top-60 on the world ranking by June 10 to qualify for the year’s third Major championship at Pebble Beach.
Over at the Belgian Knockout, 2017 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Gavin Green of Malaysia secured a credible fifth place finish to mark his best result yet on the European Tour this season.
Green, who was tied in seventh place after two rounds of stroke-play, battled his way into the round of 16 on Saturday where he defeated home favourite Thomas Detry by one shot to get into the quarter-finals of the nine-hole medal match play on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Green failed to qualify for the semi-finals after losing to Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson by one shot at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Antwerp but would take pride in his solid result, which also marks his fourth top-10 finish in 56 starts on the European Tour.
At the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide 2019, Thai star Kiradech Aphibarnrat signed for a two-under-par 70 to settle for a share of 17th place at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
After firing four birdies to turn in 32, Kiradech dropped a shot on the 10th before recovering with a birdie on 15th. The 30-year-old Thai, however, stumbled with a double-bogey on 16 to end his campaign 13 shots back of winner Patrick Cantlay.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand
Ends.
With the 2019 Asian Tour season reaching its turn, we look back at the players and events that have made the mid-year report a very compelling one.
Sentosa, Singapore, May 29: The first half of the 2019 Asian Tour season will be best remembered for thrusting the region’s best and promising players into the global spotlight.
A place where it all begins, the Asian Tour Qualifying School has always been the launchpad for aspiring golfers as they embark on their professional careers and chase their golfing dreams.
And it did not take long for the likes of rookies such as Zach Murray and Sadom Kaewkanjana to create ripples in the golfing world with their respective wins at the New Zealand Open and Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open in Bangladesh.
At the season-opening event in January, Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond found his winning rhythm again when he outclassed a host of quality players including Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Davis Love III to lift the iconic SMBC Singapore Open trophy for his third Asian Tour title.
SINGAPORE- Jazz Janewattanananond of Thailand pictured with the winner’s trophy after the final round of the SMBC Singapore Open at the Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox then produced a dominant performance in the final match by beating Spain’s Adrian Otaegui 3&2 to lift the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth trophy the following month.
Like the unique formats of the popular ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth and New Zealand Open which have been a huge success, Murray also endeared himself to the crowd when he signaled his arrival on the biggest stage by becoming the third fastest Qualifying School graduate to win on the Asian Tour in March.
Murray’s wire-to-wire victory, which saw him being crowned as the newest champion of the New Zealand Open was made even sweeter as it was his first professional win, achieved in what was only his third start on the Asian Tour.
Victory at the Maybank Championship in March was especially special for Australian Scott Hend as he cemented his status as the most successful international golfer on the Asian Tour when he claimed his 10th victory in Malaysia.
Hend’s play-off victory over Spain’s Nacho Elvira was his first in three years since he last won in 2016. The Australian also became the second player, following Thonghcai Jaidee in 2014, to surpass US$5million in career earnings, thanks to his victory in Malaysia.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Scott Hend of Australia celebrates with his caddie after he wins the play-off match against Nacho Elvira of Spain.
There was no lack of drama in March as Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher staged a remarkable comeback by firing three birdies in his closing four holes to win the Hero Indian Open.
Not to be outdone in the tale of rookies, young Thai talent Sadom surpassed Murray’s earlier feat by became the record fastest Qualifying School graduate to win on the Asian Tour in his very first start at the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open.
BANGLADESH – Sadom Kaewkanjana celebrates after his winning putt at the Bangabandhu Cup Golf Open.
Sadom secured his 2019 Asian Tour card in his first attempt at the Qualifying School and struck gold again with his first Tour victory and a second win as a professional after his maiden win on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in February.
The Asian Tour headed to East Asia in May where an exciting run of events in China, Korea and Japan reignited the Order of Merit battle.
Finland’s Mikko Korhonen ensured his first play-off duel with France’s Benjamin Hebert would end in victory when he drained an eight-foot birdie putt on the first play-off hole to defeat the Frenchman and win the Volvo China Open.
The 38th GS Caltex Maekyung Open Golf Championship saw the trophy being retained on home soil again after Korea’s Taehee Lee edged Finland’s Janne Kaske to claim his first Asian Tour title.
Japan’s Yosuke Asaji then delivered the perfect mother’s day gift on the day that matters most when he held his nerve to win the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup in Chiba prefecture.
Beyond home comforts, the golfing world also began to take notice of South Africa’s Justin Harding and Jazz, who both elevated into the higher echelons of the game.
Harding continued to make waves even on the European Tour by winning the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in March and emerged as one of the surprise packages at The Masters Tournament. He finished tied for 12th to earn a return ticket to The Masters in 2020.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – Justin Harding of South Africa talks with caddie Alan Burns on the second green during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
American Kurt Kitayama, who graduated from Qualifying School in 2018, also made big strides in the Middle East when he was crowned the Oman Open champion. It was his second European Tour title since winning the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open last December.
Jazz then took his prolific form to the Major stage when he finished in a creditable tied-14th place at the PGA Championship two weeks ago
That finish, which was also the best result by a Thai at the PGA Championship, moved him to a career-high 69th place on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Amidst the intense competition that provided all with a great spectacle the last five months, new heroes have emerged with records rewritten.
Hend holds a slim advantage over Jazz on the Asian Tour Order of Merit at this stage.
Slightly over US$50,000 separates the two but expect more twist and turns when the players return to action starting with the Kolon The 62nd KOREA Open Golf Championship next month.
After all, this is #whereitsAT.
This article was first published on PresidentsCup.com.
Diversity can be our strength, says International Team captain Ernie Els
May 30: The past couple of months have been really exciting for the International Team, with many of our potential players producing some wonderful golf and enjoying success worldwide.
In a span of six weeks, we witnessed three PGA TOUR wins by Canadian Corey Conners (Valero Texas Open), C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei (RBC Heritage) and Korea’s Sung Kang (AT&T Byron Nelson) which have improved their chances of qualifying for the International Team to face the United States Team in the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia from December 9-15.
Winning on the PGA TOUR is one of the ultimate dreams for every aspiring golfer and seeing how Corey, C.T and Sung Kang fought for their maiden wins in the U.S. was very impressive. More importantly, I was encouraged to hear all three players saying how determined they are in wanting to fight for their places in the Presidents Cup. Their enthusiasm will help generate a lot of positive buzz and energy in the team room, which is important.
I was pleased to see Sung Kang following up on his victory with a seventh-place finish at the PGA Championship while Adam Scott, who is one of our team’s stalwarts, finished tied-eighth. Another international player who has caught my attention recently is Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, whom I had the opportunity to play with in Malaysia recently. This kid has got talent and at Bethpage Black, he showed us what he can do with a solid tied-14th finish to move up to 12th in our team standings.
Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand
Though it may seem as if the world was introduced to Jazz last week, this 23-year-old has had his fair share of professional success after turning pro at age 15. He’s won three times on the Asian Tour and defeated a strong field at the Singapore Open this year. With the PGA being just his fourth PGA TOUR start, it was quite encouraging to see him perform so well under an enormous amount of pressure.
I would be remiss if I didn’t congratulate Brooks Koepka for his impressive victory at Bethpage Black. What he has accomplished in the past few years is nothing short of remarkable, and he is going to be a formidable opponent as part of the U.S. Team in December.
Currently, our top-eight players on the International Team points list consist of four established Presidents Cup team members in Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen, Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day while Cameron Smith, Haotong Li, Justin Harding and Abraham Ancer are in good position to book their maiden appearances, with qualifying concluding in mid-August. I’ll then have four captain’s picks to round up my 12-man team in early November following the PGA TOUR’s Asia swing.
We’ve already seen on numerous occasions what Cameron can do on the golf course and I’ve been impressed by Haotong and Justin as well following some eye-catching performances. Haotong, whom I played with when he shot that amazing 63 in the final round of The Open Championship in 2017, is tenacious and fiery when he gets into the ‘zone’ and he showed a lot of heart in finishing second to Dustin Johnson in Saudi Arabia earlier this year. We all saw how he backed it up with another strong showing at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play where he reached the round of 16 following outstanding group wins over two top players in Alex Noren and Brooks Koepka.
Justin Harding of South Africa
I’ve followed Justin’s progress very closely since he started playing on the Sunshine Tour and it’s been amazing to see his rise over the past 18 months where he has won five times in Asia, South Africa and on the European Tour. He is quite a fighter with a wonderful short game and he showed all those qualities with wins over Luke List and Matthew Fitzpatrick in the Match Play before being stopped by Rory McIlroy.
It’s been really fun to see how his confidence and game have soared to new heights and Justin showed us at the Masters Tournament that he can become a global player with an impressive tied-12th finish in his debut appearance. A career first PGA TOUR top-10 at the AT&T Byron Nelson has only cemented his growing reputation and I’d be the least surprised if he seals his ticket to Australia.
I was happy to see Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace reaching the round of 16 as well at the Match Play which will put our team in good stead when we face what will be a strong U.S. Team led by Tiger Woods.
Leading as team captain for the first time requires a lot of preparation and thoughts and I believe we had a fruitful week during the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Being the only official two-man team FedExCup tournament on TOUR, it allowed our players to bond closer and also try out some partnerships in the fourball and foursomes format.
Many of our guys opted to pair up with the likes of Jason Day partnering with Adam Scott, Louis teaming up with Charl Schwartzel, Justin playing with Branden, Abraham Ancer getting together with Jhonattan Vegas and Anirban Lahiri combining with Shubhankar Sharma.
We also stayed in the same hotel in New Orleans and enjoyed some fun team building sessions where the aim was to get the new guys familiarising with the more established players. As you know, our team is made up of golfers from different nationalities and cultures and it’s really important to gel as one team, hence the reason for our new International Team logo which incorporates the respective players’ national flags.
I also liked what my friend, Trevor Immelman said during our press conference together at the Zurich Classic where we teamed up. He believes our team’s diversity can be our strength which I fully agree. This is something we will continue to harness in the coming months as part of our plans to wrest the Presidents Cup from the U.S.
Speaking of Trevor, I’m delighted and honoured that he, along with Mike Weir and K.J. Choi, have agreed to be my captain’s assistants, joining Geoff Ogilvy who we announced in November at the World Cup of Golf. I have played alongside the three guys in numerous Presidents Cups and tournaments around the world and I know they have the same passion, drive and determination to create a winning formula for our team. All of them still compete regularly on the PGA TOUR and I believe their relationships with our International players will be an asset to our team.
On a personal note, I was over the moon to become the first golfer to register 300 career top-10s since the introduction of the Official World Golf Ranking in 1986 following my tied-seventh finish at the Maybank Championship. Admittedly, my last three or four years have been a struggle, so I was really happy I played some good golf in Malaysia.
Another player who also played some good golf recently was Tiger and I want to congratulate him for his sensational victory at the Masters Tournament. What he did at Augusta National was amazing and I could not be happier for him knowing what he has been through in recent years following his battles with back injuries. However when we meet at Royal Melbourne in December, I’ll be doing my best to outwit him.
I hear that ticket sales for the Presidents Cup has been very good and if you are an international golf or sports fan living in Melbourne or anywhere close to Australia, do make sure you buy your tickets now on www.presidentscup.com and cheer us on at Royal Melbourne! Bye for now.
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