Scott Hend's last win may have only just sunk in but the Australian is targeting a second triumph in seven days at the Hero Indian Open.
The 45 year old ended a three year spell without a European Tour victory at last week's Maybank Championship as he downed Nacho Elvira in a dramatic play-off in Malaysia.
With two other top tens and just two missed cuts to go with that victory this season, Hend has moved into the top ten in the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex but he has no intention of stopping there.
The tree time European Tour winner was playing through the pain as he failed to make the weekend 12 months ago at DLF Golf and Country Club, and he is certain he is on the way to formulating the correct game plan to take on the notoriously testing layout.
“It took a fair while for it to sink in that I had actually won and I didn’t really enjoy it until yesterday morning when I was sitting at the airport in Bangkok on my way here," he said of his victory in Kuala Lumpur.
"It was a pretty busy Sunday afternoon and Monday I had a really bad headache from heatstroke, didn’t even get a chance to celebrate, so it’s been a bit of a whirlwind trip here and now it’s time to enjoy it.
“I find it a daunting golf course. I wouldn’t say tricky or difficult, it’s just that if you hit a bad shot here you are going to be penalised. If I don’t hit the ball how I want to, I am just going to make a double or triple bogey somewhere and it is a course where you can’t overpower it. You still have to be in control of your golf ball and plot your way around the course.
“I would like to have a sound tournament and play solid on this golf course. It is a tournament I haven’t figured out yet how to play.
"I’ve watched one of the shortest players on Tour win around here playing with S S P (Chawrasia) when he took it apart, and then I saw Matt Wallace play great here last year.
"So, you have S S P who just plots his way around the golf course and just breaks it apart, then you have Matt Wallace who was just pounding the golf ball everywhere, so somewhere in the middle there has got to be a key to playing the course well.
“I will play the golf course in a very defensive frame of mind. There are some holes out here that you can take advantage of and some you really have to be careful with and par is a good score."
All three of Hend's European Tour victories so far have come in east Asia and, as a truly international player, he would love to add the subcontinent and then Europe to that list.
“I am starting to get to where I want to be, I am not there yet but it is a slow progression," he said.
"To win here in India with a lot of Indian friends, it would be special, because in terms of national opens this is such a prestigious tournament. It has been going for such a long time and to get your name on that trophy would be an honour and a privilege.
"I really want to win a tournament in Europe. I’ve won in North America, Australia and all through Asia and I haven’t won in Europe as of yet. I have lost two play-offs which was bitterly disappointing but I still have my goals to achieve and I want to win on the European continent."
