Lucas Herbert has earned another shot at securing his future in the United States after qualifying for this week’s Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands in Connecticut.
Currently ranked No.100 in the Official World Golf Rankings, Herbert has full status on the European Tour through until the end of the 2022 season by virtue of his victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic last January.
But with the travel complications caused by COVID and invites into World Golf Championships and Majors available to him, Herbert has spent the majority of 2021 in the US playing the PGA TOUR and based primarily out of Chicago.
Last month the Victorian played his way into the Wells Fargo Championship via Monday qualifying before missing the cut but impressed at The Memorial Tournament three weeks ago, finishing tied for 18th, his best result in 13 PGA TOUR appearances to date.
That number will grow to 14 on Thursday after he shot 6-under 66 to secure one of the four spots on offer at Ellington Ridge Country Club, joining Jason Day, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman, Cameron Percy, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith in flying the Aussie flag this week.
Out in the first group of the day on Monday, Herbert was in prime position when he made the turn in 4-under 32 and bogey free, picking up birdies at 10 and 13 to further cement his position towards the top of the leaderboard.
There was a slight blemish with a dropped shot at the par-4 16th but he recovered that at the very next hole with a birdie at the par-3 17th to finish third behind Stephen Stallings (63) and Seamus Power (65) and one shot clear of the four-man playoff for the final spot.
The 91 FedEx Cup points that Herbert has accrued in his seven events this season makes him eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour Finals but he still requires a further 197 points to earn Special Temporary Membership of the PGA TOUR.
The 25-year-old was initially entered to play the BMW International Open on the European Tour this week alongside fellow Aussies Scott Hend, Wade Ormsby, Min Woo Lee, Maverick Antcliff, Jake McLeod and Elvis Smylie in his European Tour debut.
