Scott Hend has won the European Legends Cup, hosted by José María Olazábal, by two shots after holding off the challenge of Adilson Da Silva and Stephen Gallacher at Basozábal in Northern Spain.
The Australian’s final-round 67 and -16 total was good enough for a third Legends Tour title and a commanding lead in the 2025 Order of Merit.
“It feels great to win – every win is a great thing,” said Hend, who claimed victory at the Barbados Legends, hosted by Ian Woosnam, earlier in the year. “At the start of the day I had in my mind that if I went out and shot four-under then it would be very hard for the guys behind to catch me. I felt I was playing pretty boring golf out there, not going for many pins, just trying to make lots of pars. Credit to Alan, my caddie – we had a gameplan out there and we stuck to it.
“I flushed it down the first and knew that Adi was three behind me – so I knew that if I could shoot four-under he would have to play exceptionally well to catch me. It was nice to birdie 15, 16 and 17 to put a bit of space between him and myself. It was a really good stretch there and I said to Alan that I’ve never been able to walk down 18 with a four-shot lead, so that was nice to do.”
Brazilian Da Silva, who won this event 12 months ago, birdied the last to card a bogey-free 66 and close to within two and secure second place, but once Hend had rattled off three birdies in a row in the middle of the back nine the result was never really in doubt.
Scotland’s Gallacher – the only player in the field to card three rounds in the 60s – eagled the fifth and added further birdies at the 6th, 8th, 10th and 13th to get to -12. But the 2014 Ryder Cup player was unable to find the putts needed to apply more pressure to Hend and had to settle for third place as he seeks a maiden Legends Tour win in his first season.
Having opened with a two-under-par 70 and followed it up with a course-record 63 on day two, Hend started the day with a three-shot lead and was the clear favourite going into the final round.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing early on as the lead was trimmed to just one at the turn as Da Silva made his move. “For a moment there I felt like I was right in it,” said the Brazilian after a flawless 66 and a 14-under total. “I birdied number eight and was thinking that the 9th, 10th and 11th are good birdie opportunities, but I let myself down a bit on that stretch. I only had gap wedge on nine, sand wedge on 10 and 11 was also close – but I didn’t birdie any of them and that was my chance.”
As Da Silva’s challenge faded, Hend quickly responded, reasserting his authority after the turn with a booming drive just short of the green at 10 that was followed by a deft chip and a short putt for a three that paved the way for another victory. A pin-point approach at 15 was followed by another laser iron at the par-3 16th and victory was all but assured as his rivals failed to match his birdies.
Tournament host, José María Olazábal, who despite carrying a shoulder injury that at one stage threatened his participation in the event, finished T15 after shooting 68-68 over the weekend.
The man himself was delighted with both his day’s work and the week as a whole. “It wasn’t pretty, but I fought hard and managed to put together a solid round. There were not many putts because I didn’t play well and missed a lot of greens, but in the end I got through the round without making a single bogey.
“What I’m most happy and satisfied about is that we’ve been able to bring a tournament of this calibre to Gipuzkoa, to Basozábal in this case. There’s been a huge effort from so many people, and everyone has been pleasantly surprised by the course and how everything has gone. That’s why I’m really satisfied.”
Elsewhere, Jyoti Randhawa matched Da Silva’s joint-low round of the day – a sparkling 66 – to secure 4th place on -9, helped in no small part by a hole-out two on the 9th. “The pin was left, and you don’t want to go left. But the caddie told me there was a slope on the left so I thought I’d go for the pin. I pulled it a bit, it landed in the fringe, spun a bit and it came down and went in. It was a beautiful shot.”
Simon Khan finished fifth at -8, alongside Dutchman Maarten Lafeber – it was the Englishman’s fourth top-10 of the season. Greg Owen, Phillip Price, Emanuele Canonica, Matthew Cort, James Kingston and Mikael Lundberg tied for seventh at -7.
The Legends Tour now moves on to Germany in two weeks’ time for the WINSTONgolf Senior Open near Hamburg. Van Phillips won the event in 2024, beating Adilson da Silva and Phillip Archer in a play-off.
