{"id":889,"date":"2026-05-23T18:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T18:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/889\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T18:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T18:49:08","slug":"scott-hend-claims-five-shot-victory-at-trophee-hassan-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/889\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Hend claims five-shot victory at Troph\u00e9e Hassan II"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hend, 52, closed with rounds of 66-69-69 to secure victory in just his 12th career start on PGA TOUR Champions and earn fully exempt status on Tour through the 2027 season.<\/p>\n<p>The Australian began the final round two shots behind but seized control with a pivotal swing on the par-3 ninth hole, where he made birdie while overnight leader Tommy Gainey carded a double bogey.<\/p>\n<p>The win marks Hend\u2019s first PGA TOUR Champions title, surpassing his previous best finish of runner-up at the 2026 Regions Tradition. He also moves from No. 14 to No. 5 in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.<\/p>\n<p>Hend becomes the fourth consecutive international winner of the Troph\u00e9e Hassan II during its PGA TOUR Champions era and the first Australian to lift the title in the tournament\u2019s 50-year history. A former DP World Tour and Staysure Legends Tour winner, Hend earned his place in the field after topping the 2025 Legends Tour Order of Merit.<\/p>\n<p>Two-time Charles Schwab Cup champion Steven Alker finished tied for second after matching the low round of the day with a closing 68, alongside Gainey, who recorded his fourth top-10 finish of the season despite surrendering the lead on the back nine.<\/p>\n<p>World Golf Hall of Fame member Ernie Els rebounded from an opening-round 74 with rounds of 68 and 69 to finish tied for fourth.<\/p>\n<p>Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media<\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/golfdigestme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GolfDigestME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">X<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GolfDigestME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"color: #ff6600;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@GolfDigestME\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main Image: F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Royale Marocaine de Golf<\/p>\n<p>\nSubsribe to Golf Digest Middle East Newsletter\n<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hend, 52, closed with rounds of 66-69-69 to secure victory in just his 12th career start on PGA&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44,387,461,890,891,56,892],"class_list":["post-889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest-middle-east","tag-golf-news","tag-scott-hemd-trophu00e9e-hassan-ii","tag-scott-hend","tag-sports","tag-trophu00e9e-hassan-ii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}