Australia's Hend masters elements to win in Taiwan
(Reuters) - Australia's Scott Hend mastered hostile weather to win his fourth Asian Tour title at the Taiwan Masters on Sunday.
As the Taiwan Golf and Country Club faced the wrath of Typhoon Fitow, 40-year-old Hend defied torrential rain and gusty winds to card a final round of two-over-par 74 for a winning total of three-under-par 285.
"To be able to win this tournament was always a tough mental challenge especially under those conditions," Hend, who had a one-stroke lead coming in to the final round, told reporters.
Hend relied on his experience of playing in challenging conditions in Scotland last week to finish four strokes ahead of American Sam Cyr who signed off with a round of 77.
"I got my wish when I saw how windy it was out here. It worked to my favour as I played in Scotland last week and I was mentally prepared," said Hend.
"I wanted the wind to blow but I didn't want it to blow that hard. I thought if the wind blows, it'll be hard for somebody to shoot in the low 60s and try to catch me. The only problem was for me not to shoot high 70s."
Bangladesh's Siddikur Rahman (77) and Thailand's Arnond Vongvanij (73) were tied for the third place at 291.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
