[Photo: Getty images]
Lucas Herbert believes there are enough similarities between the 54-hole tournaments he plays on LIV Golf and the aggressive mentality needed for this week’s shortened Australian PGA Championship to be in with a chance on Sunday’s final round.
With over 250mm of rain battering Brisbane and Royal Queensland during the past week tournament officials were forced on Friday to reduce the PGA to 54 holes. A cut will be made to the top 65 and ties on Saturday night before a third and final round on Sunday. It’s forced the entire field to sprint towards the finish with less golf to make up ground on the leaderboard.
Herbert – who was integral to Ripper GC’s season-long teams victory alongside teammates Cam Smith, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones this year – fired a 66 at Royal Queensland to roar back into contention on the delayed second round.
Herbert’s round, which began at the 10th, was steady with a one-under first nine before supercharging his scorecard with two back-nine birdies and a stunning eagle at the par-5 seventh (his 16th). Last week’s NSW Open winner rifled his second shot to close range and drained the putt for a 3. Herbert began the day at even par but sat five-under through two rounds and two shots behind clubhouse leader, England’s Matthew Southgate (67).
The Bendigo native said it was not unlike LIV Golf, whose 54-hole, no-cut events require stars like Smith, Herbert and Jon Rahm to jump out of the gates.
“I do think so to a degree; I think it’s a change of mindset in a 54-hole event,” Herbert said after his round. “You play Thursday (and I was) six back (of overnight leader Elvis Smylie), you’re not even really paying attention to (your position on the leaderboard during a 72-hole event) too much just because there’s so much golf to go. But all of a sudden, you cancel the second round and now it’s like I’m six back with two rounds to go. It’s a different story.
“I knew I had to shoot a pretty low one today and probably play well tomorrow as well. It sounds easy but I think it just takes a bit of practise to get used to how aggressive to be in a three-round event. So yeah, there’s probably a little bit of an advantage (playing on LIV) for us (Smith, Herbert and Leishman).”
