Summary Hend eagled the second and 18th holes at the Macau Golf and Country Club
HONG KONG (AFP) - Australian Scott Hend swooped to the top of the Macau Open leaderboard Saturday on the back of two eagles to finish seven under-par and open up a three-shot gap trailed by defending champion Anirban Lahiri.
Hend eagled the second and 18th holes at the Macau Golf and Country Club, and finished the round in 64 aided by his fine putting.
He has set up a repeat of last year s final day showdown with world number 39 Lahiri, who battled to a 68.
Lahiri s countryman Chiragh Kumar placed third with a round of 69 to tee up a four-shot deficit from the leader s pace, followed by Australian Sam Brazel and another Indian, Rashid Khan, who shot 68 and 69 respectively.
Hend, who triumphed in Macau two years ago and was pipped by Lahiri last season after a memorable final day duel, insisted he was not out to exact revenge against the current Asian Tour leader.
"No revenge, plenty of tournaments out there. All there is are rewards," said Hend.
Leading scores (par 71)
198 - Scott Hend (AUS) 66-68-64
201 - Anirban Lahiri (IND) 66-67-68
202 - Chiragh Kumar (IND) 67-66-69
203 - Rashid Khan (IND) 70-65-68, Sam Brazel (AUS) 68-66-69
204 - Jeunghun Wang (KOR) 65-68-71
205 - Brett Munson (USA) 66-74-65, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 68-71-66, Niall Turner (IRL) 70-68-67, David Lipsky (USA) 71-67-67, Steve Lewton (ENG) 72-66-67, Adilson DA SILVA (BRA) 68-65-72
