Richard Kaufman reflects on Scott Hend's Thailand success

Scott Hend bounced back from a miserable week at Doral with a memorable win at the Thailand Classic, and Sky Sports commentator Richard Kaufman reflects on the Aussie's achievement...

It's not often in top class sport that you're bottom of the pile one week and a champion the next. But as Scott Hend said on Saturday night, golf can mirror life. You get your ups and downs. And from his low in Doral, he was on a massive high in Hua Hin.

Stepping onto his plane on Monday, arriving in Thailand in the early hours of Wednesday morning, the Australian had plenty of time, in the air, to contemplate what had happened in Doral.

Based in Florida, where his family live, and with a huge desire to get back on to the PGA Tour, he admitted to being very disappointed with his efforts at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Finishing on 22 over par over the four days, and making a 10 on a par-five, it would have been easy for him to wallow in self-pity and regret a missed opportunity.

But from the time I have spent with Scott Hend, I know he's not that sort of character. Which is why I told anyone that would listen to me that he had a chance of bouncing back. After all, this was a course he had performed well on, a fair few occasions before.

Hend said he had a point to prove to himself in Thailand and when you consider the other three players who made that same trip from Florida to the coastal resort town in the south of Thailand all missed the cut, it was a point proven.

Of course, there could have been a fairytale ending when Piya Swangarunporn nearly stole the show. The round of his life on such a big stage. At the age of 32, to win more money in one week than he had in his entire career on the Asian Tour was stunning.

It was some round of golf. He may not have won thanks to Hend's brilliance but Piya has had a life changing moment. Hopefully, he can now take his game up to a level where he can compete on a regular basis.

This week, it's another co-sanctioned event and at a venue I absolutely love. I have probably been to Delhi Golf Club more times than any other venue in Asia. And while I don't want to tempt the commentator's curse, I have never seen a dull finish.

The course is the polar opposite to the one we saw at Black Mountain. You stand on the tees and the fairway looks pencil thin - if you can see one at all! If it's fast running, it can be a nightmare. You can hit the fairway and still bounce off into the bushes.

Last year, Anirban Lahiri emerged from a final round where ten players had their chances. It's great to see Anirban is back from America to defend his title, taking on the likes of Padraig Harrington and some other familiar faces from Europe. But watch out for those Delhi Golf Club specialists.

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