South Australian Wade Ormsby says he will “put his best foot forward” this week as he attempts to complete his hat-trick of Hong Kong Open titles, having arrived here riding a tidal wave of emotions after his father Pete passed away just two weeks ago.
The tournament’s marquee player, Lee hit crushing drives and holed putt after putt to card an eight-under-par 63 for an astonishing four-round aggregate of 30-under – a new tournament record and two short of the Asian Tour record.
The 28-year-old from the Illawarra region has been in resplendent form this year, with a best finish of third in the World City Championship in Hong Kong, one of six top-20s.
Hend, chasing his 11th win on the Asian Tour and first in four years, came closest to catching the winner but hit his tee shot on the par-5 18th out-of-bounds and made a costly double-bogey.
A total of 35 players out of 77 starters secured right of passage onto the Asian Tour this year, which promises to be the most lucrative in its history.