History for Herbert

Lucas Herbert is a self-confessed ‘golf nerd’ who knows his history. Now he is creating it.

The Australian mastered a golf course he described as ‘phenomenally tough’ with an incredible nine birdies in his second round to leave himself within touching distance of golfing immortality.

No-one has ever shot 61 in a men’s major. Herbert was five feet away from doing so on the 18th green.

But the ball stayed out, the crowd groaned and the Australian took a moment to slump over his putter before both parties took a moment to appreciate what they had just witnessed.

“I'm absolutely disappointed, and at the same time, so proud,” Herbert said.

“I am very proud to put my name on that list of guys that have shot 62 in a major championship.

“It's kind of holding two emotions there at the same time. It's a tricky one, and I'm sure once the dust settles, I'll be able to sort of decompress it a little bit.

“Right now I've sort of got both going on, and it's a pretty good problem to have too, to be disappointed you shot 62.”

Herbert became the fifth player to shoot 62 in one of golf’s four showpiece events. Fifteen minutes later, Sam Burns became the sixth, the pair joining Branden Grace, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele (twice) and Shane Lowry.

That was helped by ‘rogue subjects’ of discussion with his unmistakable caddie, the bearded Nick Pugh. The man from the Wirral’s local knowledge proved invaluable and he is more than a man on the bag to Herbert – Pugh was the master of ceremonies when he got married last year.

Whatever they discussed was working as Herbert put together a stretch which left him admitting ‘I might not play a better 12 holes in my life’.

Six birdies took him to the turn in 28, tying a record set by Denis Durnian set on the same course in 1983.

There was no let-up thereafter. Nine feet at the 11th? Bang. Twelve feet at the 12th? You know the rest.

Herbert ranked the seven-foot putt at 16, which sent him to nine-under, as the best shot of his record-equalling round. By that stage, what was at stake was unavoidable.

They knew it in the galleries, too. The Australian voices were audible while one man dragged his friends out of a hospitality suite to head down the 17th with one simple statement: “This is history, lads.”

It was only then that Herbert started to take the scenic route. An approach at 17 went a long way left of the green but a deft chip from a kind lie helped him save par.

At the 18th, his tee shot flew right and he was able to take free relief given the proximity to the spectator fence. His second shot was short of the green but the way he was playing, getting up and down seemed a formality.

His only bogey of the day followed but it did not affect his position on the leaderboard, from which he maintains his lofty view.

“It's worlds apart to have dreams and then to have even a glimpse of it becoming reality,” he said.

“(I had) dreams of winning The Open for sure, and I'm in a great position to do that through two rounds. There's still a lot of golf to go and a lot of work to do.

“The dream is I would love to tick off more than shooting 62 and I've got a great opportunity. I'm looking forward to getting after it on the weekend.”

His run will not have gone unnoticed back home.

Cameron Smith became Champion Golfer of the Year at St Andrews four years ago. Peter Thomson (twice) and Ian Baker-Finch have both won The Open here. And Herbert hopes his surge into contention could act as inspiration for the Australian stars of tomorrow.

“One of my earliest golf memories is my dad waking me up to watch Chad Campbell in the first round in the 2009 Masters because it looked like he had a really good chance to shoot 62 and break the record at that time,” he said.

“I thought if one kid gets woken up by their parents to watch me finish this round because that's the record being broken, that would be so cool, and it would tickle me pink.

“I hope it happened. I hope some kid's disappointed that I shot 62 and didn't hole that putt on the last.

“It felt like a little bit of a full-circle moment there. I love going back to Australia and seeing how many kids are out there playing golf and how much the game is growing there.”

They will have to stay up into the early hours Down Under if Herbert remains in contention come Sunday. But that will be a sacrifice many will be willing to make if the man from Bendigo keeps playing like this.