June 23, 2018: Scott Hend fired a sensational 67 in more windy conditions at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof to take a one-shot lead into the weekend at the BMW International Open.
The Australian is a two-time winner on the European Tour and sits at the top of a congested leaderboard after recording the joint-lowest round of the week to get to six under par, a shot clear of Qualifying School graduates Nico Geyger of Chile and Sweden’s Henric Sturehed.
“It’s just patience. When it’s this windy, if you’re not patient you’re going to get smashed. It’s as simple as that. If you can laugh it off, what will be will be, and just play. If you try to push for a birdie, if you hit it in the rough and make a bogey it’s great, if you get less than a bogey then it’s a bonus. It’s just one of those golf courses that is quite punishing.
“I just played conservatively. Just trying to play on to the fairways and keep out of the long brown stuff.
“Last time I was here I played horrendously. I just came here with the attitude this week to just find the golf ball first off, get it on the green and hopefully hole some putts and have a fresh approach”, said Hend.
Two-time Major winner and local favourite Martin Kaymer shot a 68 to delight the home fans with his move up the leaderboard and sit at four under par alongside his countryman Maximilian Kieffer, Englishman Aaron Rai, overnight leader Sébastien Gros of France and Australia’s Nick Cullen.
Rai was celebrating earlier in the round as he won a BMW i8 Roadster for a hole-in-one on the 16th – his seventh hole – as he briefly held the solo lead, but he double-bogeyed the fifth and dropped another shot on the sixth to fall back.
Danish pair Thorbjørn Olesen and Søren Kjeldsen are at three under after rounds of 68 and 69 respectively, a shot clear of Christofer Blomstrand, Mark Foster, Wade Ormsby, Thomas Pieters and Matt Wallace.
European Tour Release
