Hend, who had just birdied the par-3 17th to get to five under on the day, hit his second shot at Saujana Golf & Country Club’s par-5 18th well right and into some trees, leaving him with a tricky third shot into the green. With the pin in a position where he’d need to hit a high shot to get close, Hend was in trouble, because a lofted shot likely would have clipped some tree branches and/or possibly come up short in the bunker. He had to go low, which gave him no chance of getting the ball close. Or so we thought.

The two-time European Tour winner got very creative, pulling out a low iron and hitting a line-drive punch that caromed off the grandstand like a baseball off the right-field wall. The ball rolled back toward the pin and set up an easy two-putt par. Check it out:

He meant that! Off the backboard.

Amazing creativity from @hendygolf. pic.twitter.com/MNlxGl1BS5

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 23, 2019

Judging by Hend’s cheeky reaction, this was absolutely planned, something Hend confirmed on Twitter when asked:

Played that way…. 121m to base of grandstand….. play a 140m shot low into the boards and see if it will bounce back…. ??‍??‍??‍ seemed to work out ok. My caddie bounced many balls off the stand testing the bounce during practice.

— Scott Hend (@hendygolf) March 23, 2019

As you heard one of the announcers say, players had been practising this shot earlier in the week, but to see it done in tournament play and executed as well as Hend executed it is pretty wild.

Hend’s par capped off a third-round 67 that vaulted him up the leader board into a tie for fourth at 10 under. He’ll begin his final round on Sunday in Malaysia three back of Spain’s Nacho Elvira. If he can catch him, Hend could win for the first time since the True Thailand Classic in March of 2016. We’re guessing he’ll remember this bold play for a long time if he’s able to pull off the comeback.

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