Aussie of the month: Lucas Herbert
Buoyed by his record-tying 62 during the Open Championship and a career-best major finish of T-6, Lucas Herbert wiped the floor with the field at LIV Golf UK a week later as he and Ripper GC both claimed titles.
The Victorian reached an astonishing 30-under-par for the week at JCB Golf & Country Club, separating him from runner-up Tyrrell Hatton by six shots. It was Herbert’s second LIV title in 2026 and Ripper’s third team triumph.
Herbert showed little in the way of a hangover from a missed opportunity at The Open, scorching around the JCB layout in 61 strokes on day one to set a new course record. Rounds of 66, 69 and a 62 to close gave the 30-year-old a wire-to-wire victory as Ripper GC built a four-stroke cushion over Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII side in the team event.
Herbert’s 30-under finish is the lowest mark in LIV history, while he also set the league record for most birdies in a tournament with 30. His combination of 32 birdies and eagles in a tournament also broke a LIV record (although 72-hole events have only been played since the start of this LIV season).
“I just wanted to really carry that into this week the best I could,” Herbert said of his form at Royal Birkdale. “I think I got out of my own way the first two rounds and I started thinking about it yesterday. It was just good to play like that today when I was being pushed by two of the best players in the world.”
Golfers in the news
Early EXITS: The Australian contingents at the US Women’s Amateur and US Amateur experienced mixed results, including an Aussie shutout from the matchplay portion of the men’s event. Rachel Lee and Ella Scaysbrook lasted longest in the women’s championship, both eliminated in the round of 16.
Doin’ the double: Adelaide’s Raegan Denton completed the strokeplay/matchplay double at the 124th PNGA Women’s Amateur Championship in Oregon. Denton, who is about to begin her freshman year at Louisiana State University, is the third Australian in a row to win the title, after Jazy Roberts in 2025 and Justice Bosio in 2024.
These kids are all right: Pint-sized Melbourne golfers Will Veitch and Angelika Britto [left] narrowly missed claiming titles at the US Kids Golf World Championship. Both juniors lost in playoffs, Veitch on the fourth extra hole of the Boys 7 division and Britto in the Girls 7 & Under.
Perfect timing: Rising Queensland tour professional Hannah Reeves notched her first international trophy with a playoff victory at the Pitch 15 Open in England, part of the LET
Access Series.
Dual aces: Husband and wife Duane and Bernadette Johnston recorded a hole-in-one on the same hole – Camden Golf Club’s ninth – just a few weeks apart. Remarkably, Bernadette’s shot came with the hole playing as a par 4, earning her an ace and an albatross in one swing.
HE DID WHAT?
An albatross is a rare bird in golf, so imagine the joy of Tasmanian Paul Read, who scored two in five months. In late February, Read carded a 2 on the par-5 13th hole at Huon Valley Golf Club during the Southern Open, before acing the downhill, par-4 10th hole at Tasmania Golf Club in July. The odds of such a feat in that timeframe are estimated as one in a trillion. Incredibly, Read lost both his albatross balls, including the first one up a tree… on the very next hole.
Photographs by getty images/jan kruger (herbert)
