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CIMB CLASSIC

October 19, 2016

Scott Hend

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: We have scoot Hend from Australia, currently No. 1 on the Asia Order of Merit, two wins this season. Tell us what you're feeling and what are your expectations ahead this week?

SCOTT HEND: Obviously because ten guys from The Asian Tour are here, so big chance to try and move up the Order of Merit and hold your position. It's a very important week in that respect. And also a chance, a possibility of getting a U.S. Tour card if I win this event.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: You played in the Pro-Am this morning. How is the course playing as to what you've seen over the years here?

SCOTT HEND: I think the rough is a little bit less. The greens seem to be a little bit slower. In saying that, the condition of the greens are good and the fairways have nice grass on them. Should be a pretty low-scoring week I would think, because a lot of the bushes have been cleared out a little bit. You can sort of hit it a little bit off-line and get away with it.

Q. Just wondering, what are you expecting to take from this tournament?
SCOTT HEND: A lot of money. I'd like to get a whole handful of World Ranking points because it's a very strong field. This week is quite important in FedEx points and also World Ranking points.

Q. Do you have any goals, targets you've set for yourself the next couple years?
SCOTT HEND: Well, I'm 43 now, so my goal is obviously to win as many tournaments as possible before the Senior Tour, and then I'd like to obtain The Asian Tour Order of Merit title. And possibly in the next few coming years, maybe get back on the PGA TOUR. But right now I'm quite happy playing where I am in Europe and Asia and trying to win tournaments, and that's what I'm trying to achieve.

Q. What is your idea of success?
SCOTT HEND: When I've finished my career, my children and my grandchildren see the titles that I've won or if they travel around the world and play golf and walk into a golf course where a tournament I've won and my name is on the board or a trophy, and they can see that and they can remember that possibly when I'm gone in 50 years' time or I'm not here. That's one part of being successful and what I think is success.

And the other thing is being able to live happily and not want for anything of the basics and being able to make a good living out of the game.

Q. A legacy like Arnie's?
SCOTT HEND: Yeah.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: You talked about the Order of Merit. Why is it important for to you try to grab that Order of Merit for the first time in your career in Asia?

SCOTT HEND: I've been fortunate enough to win nine times in Asia obviously and I finished second a fair few times. On the Order of Merit, I think I finished twice in second position and I finished fourth maybe two or three times.

So for me, I'm from Australia and I'm very close to Asia, and being able to win the Order of Merit, it's just a goal of mine to achieve. And obviously some other goals I have in line, if they fall in line, I'll win the Order of Merit. Every little goal becomes a big goal.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Is the world's Top-50 among the goals of yours, as well?

SCOTT HEND: Yeah, I'd like to play the U.S. Masters next year, yeah.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Why is that?

SCOTT HEND: I've never played the Masters and I think it would be a golf course I would be able to play very well around. Obviously like a lot of people, have seen it, every April, turn on the TV, watch the Masters, watch Augusta. I would like to be there once and walk down a couple of fairways.

I'd love to play there, play the tournament. It's the only major that is played on the same golf course every single year, and you know, especially after Adam's won; Greg Norman played fantastic there for quite a lot of years. It's just a golf course and a golf tournament that I'd really love to play.

Q. You've been playing quite well. What is it in your game that has improved? What's going well?
SCOTT HEND: Patience. A bit more patience. Not trying to push that hard straightaway. Just the realization that you can't do everything perfect. We all want to do something perfect, but you can't do everything perfect, especially in this game. It's about just being patient and taking it on the chin.

Q. Who do you have on the bag?
SCOTT HEND: Tiny has come back after his trip around Australia. He came back at Crans-Montana in Switzerland a few weeks ago, and we lost in a playoff, unfortunately. It's great to be back together and we're going to have another good go at it.

He just wanted to have a bit of time off, a bit of a break. He went on holiday and drove around Australia for 13 weeks and did the camping bit and the fishing and stuff. He and his wife wanted to have a trip they had planned for a long time. So he went and did that, and I pursued the golf.

Q. So how many years were you together?
SCOTT HEND: Oh, I've known Tony 20-odd years. He played the Web.com Tour himself. He played The European Tour Challenge Tour. He played The Asian Tour for eight or nine years and then he had a bad injury in his left arm. He's got really bad tendonitis, so could only play three or four days in a row. He offered his services to come and caddie for me. We used to room together all the time when he was playing on Tour, anyway, and just a good partnership.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: You played a couple of seasons on the PGA TOUR in the mid 2000s, and you've played a lot on The Asian Tour now. When you look at the playing standards of the PGA TOUR and the Asian Tour, is it a vast difference there, or is it just a small little difference there now?

SCOTT HEND: I think in general, the guys on the PGA TOUR are much better putters week-in, week-out. That's all they concentrate on is putting and chipping. They just get it up-and-down.

Ball-striking-wise, I think there's a lot of really good ball-strikers on the Asian Tour, but the standard of putting isn't quite as good. Because every week we putt on a different surface; whereas in the US, the West Coast is one surface, middle of the country is pretty much bent, and you get a bit of poa annua and a bit of bent and bermuda on the East Coast. But you don't see the jump from paspalum, bermudagrass, back to paspalum, back to some really grainy grass. They have greens that are really quick every week like Japan and they are always very good putters.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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