No question about it, Lucas Herbert has a great passion for the Emirates Australian Open.
It was just two years ago when Herbert, then an amateur, missed automatic qualifying for our national championship by a single shot by making a double bogey on the final hole at the Australian Masters.
That costly miss gave rise to one of the great stories to come out of that championship won by Jordan Spieth. Herbert than drove overnight from Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs to Sydney to ensure he made his tee time for the Open qualifying at Carnarvon Golf Club. He slept in his parents’ car and famously qualified before finishing the lead amateur in the championship.
His place in this championship could also become Australian Open folklore if he can maintain his opening round effort. The Victorian posted some “cheeky” tweets last Friday asking for a start in the tournament after featuring on Channel Seven’s promotion of their Summer of Golf coverage.
His wish was granted and tonight he shares the lead after the opening round with fellow 20-year-old, West Australian amateur Curtis Luck.
Herbert mastered the Royal Sydney course with a bogey-free five under 67 on the back of a brilliant short game. He got up-and-down five times during the round, twice on par-5s for birdie, while his work from the sand was also superb.
“I didn’t think I did much special out there, just picked off the holes that I needed to pick off and holed a couple of nice par saves out there, but it didn’t feel like that was the round of my life,” Herbert said.
“I still feel like I’ve got better rounds in me for the weekend.”
Herbert has been in the professional wilderness since joining the pay-for-play ranks almost 12 months to the day. He decided to escape Melbourne’s cold winter to chase the sun in the United States and tackle Monday qualifying events for the Web.com Tour, with mixed success.
“Over there I worked out how far away I was from being at that level and it was probably not as far as I thought, so it sparked some inspiration over there to work really hard at it,” said Herbert, who is only exempt into some PGA Tour of Australasia events.
“I went to Web (Tour) Q-School and unfortunately missed and then went to Fiji and missed the cut, but those two weeks still felt really solid. It felt like my game wasn’t that far away. I played better than missing the cut there.
FIRST ROUND LEADERBOARD | SECOND ROUND TEE TIMES
“I actually went to the Macau Open the week after and made the cut on the number there and I think that was really where a lot of confidence kicked in. I finally got that chance to make the cut, made a cheque there on the weekend and then come to the Queensland Open and really felt like I was ready to get back into the summer.”
Herbert picked up another handy cheque last week at the NSW Open and will be hoping to capitalise on his good start at Rose Bay by moving up the Australian Order of Merit and having some doors open for him.
His co-leader has no such problems with doors opening. Luck is already heading to the Masters in April courtesy of his victories at the US Amateur and Asia Pacific Amateur Championships. His opening 67 was two better than playing partner, World No.5 Jordan Spieth, and three better former US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy.
Spieth was full of praise for the West Australian saying
“Really, really, really impressive player, Curtis, real simple golf swing,” Spieth said.
“I had overheard him say, ‘Haven’t hit a draw in a while’, to his caddy/coach ‘But I guess we’re going to go with it today’, just kind of understands where he’s at and how to play different shots, and then around the greens he was spectacular, which is something that you certainly need to take with you up to the next level.
“So, he’s certainly got all the tools.
“Really impressive day today and it seems the way his game is that the tougher weather will play into his favour as well.”
Luck was quite humble about this opening effort but it was Spieth who kept the accolades coming.
“I thought he was better composed than I was; no doubt,” Spieth smiled.
“Certainly, I learned a bit from him today on that side of things. He was smiling the whole time, really enjoying himself. I got a little frustrated there when I was hitting it close and just couldn’t capitalise and then he got into some trouble with a couple of bogies in a row – could have really been four-over on those two holes, and instead he had a birdie on the front end and a birdie on the back end, to only play him at even."
“He could have shot even par for the day and instead he turned that into five under there in the middle of the round, so that’s the kind of stuff is unteachable, and he has that.” - Jordan Spieth on Curtis Luck.
Herbert and Luck lead a group of five players by a stroke, including 51-year-old Peter O’Malley, who unfortunately bogied his final hole to fall out of a share of the lead. Germany’s David Klein and big-hitting Kiwi Ryan Fox as well as little known Ben Clementson, NSW, and Victorian Adam Burdett are all four under.
World No.7 Adam Scott and two-time Australian Open Champion Aaron Baddeley have some work to do to make the cut.
Scott (73) is currently tied 70th, while Baddeley (74) shares equal 92nd place. Both played in the tougher afternoon conditions when Royal Sydney’s greens were at their firmest after a full day of baking under a warm sun. Both will be out early on Friday morning before the temperature moves into the low 30s.
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