Adilson Da Silva’s closing six-under-par 66 was not enough to catch the winner on Sunday, but it gave him second place in the Legends Tour’s European Legends Cup at Real Nuevo Club Golf de San Sebastian in Basozabal, Spain.
It was a bogey-free finish for Da Silva in his second successive 66, but, in the end, Australian Scott Hend’s second-round 63 gave him enough of a cushion to run out a two-stroke winner over Da Silva. Hend also held off the challenge of Stephen Gallacher, who finished third.
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 over South Africa’s Keith Horne.
“It feels great to win – every win is a great thing,” said Hend, who claimed victory at the Barbados Legends 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.”
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 ninth, 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-three 16th and victory was all but assured as his rivals failed to match his birdies.
James Kingston closed with a one-under 71 to finish on seven-under in a share of seventh, while Horne’s second-round 77 put paid to any challenge he might have hoped to mount. He closed with a 68 to reach three-under and a share of 24th.
