Australia’s Scott Hend had the backing of Masters champion Danny Willett in confronting a drunken spectator en route to eagling the last for a second day running to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Hend, 43, had just a virtual tap-in eagle “three” in a round of 73 for a nine-under-par tally as he seeks to end a 26-year Australia winless drought at the European Tour’s flagship event.
Willett, who shared the lead with Hend heading into day three of the 4 million euro (US$4.5 million) event, went ahead with a birdie at the fifth, but stumbled with five bogeys over his remaining 10 holes in an eventual 76 for a five-way share of fifth place at six-under-par.
Fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton produced the lowest score of the day, a six-under-par 66 to finish in second place on eight-under-par and one clear of compatriot Lee Westwood (68) and South Korea’s Y.E. Yang (75).
The last Australian to win at Wentworth was Mike Harwood in 1990, but that was of no significance as Hend strives to win a second European Tour event in seven appearances, since capturing the cosanctioned True Thailand Classic.
However, Hend, who has won 12 of his victories in eight different countries, is yet to win on European soil, despite first playing a full European Tour schedule in 2010.
“It’s just a matter of time before it happens,” Hend said.
However, it was two inebriated spectators that Hend was clearly more concerned about — with the 1.8m-tall Queensland-born, but now Florida-based professional ready to take action into his own hands.
“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,” Hend said.
“It was quite rude and personal what they were saying and if it was up to me, I would of had them thrown out,” he said.
“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,” Hend said.
“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,” he said.
“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,” Hend said.
“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 at me before I hit my first putt at 14, and just wouldn’t shut up from there on,” he added.
Willett was not asked about the incident with the spectators and instead was trying to come to terms again with two contrasting nines.
“We hit some bad shots out there, but it’s tough to stay on par when your ball doesn’t stay on line,” Willett said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two