Lucas Herbert fit for ‘home’ national open
Lucas Herbert generating media interest in Melbourne this morning – photo Golf Australia
Victorian golfer Lucas Herbert is Australia’s third highest world ranked golfer and after back issues forced him to withdraw at last week’s Australian PGA Championship he is keen to bounce back with good showing, if not better, at this week’s Australian Open at the Victoria Golf Club.
After securing his PGA Tour playing rights in October of 2021 via the Korn Ferry Tour finals, Herbert was quick to break through for his first win at that level and although his follow up events on season 2021 and 2022 saw only two further top tens, he has status in the US for another year at least and given the manner he has handled the step up more success appears in store for the powerful 26 year old.
At this morning’s media conference ahead of this week’s event, Herbert was asked how the back was recovering.
“A lot better than I was on Friday. I felt it just slip out on the range, my back, my lower back kind of just slipped and it wasn’t necessarily painful, but I lost a lot of power. I could tell it wasn’t right. I was like, it’s going to be one of those days, I’m just going to have to fight through it, make the best of it and get it worked on this afternoon.
“I had referral pain down my legs as well and they 9his team) were pretty insistent on me pulling out and I really didn’t want to. I didn’t want it to seem like I was just playing badly and wanted to get out of there or anything like that.
“I obviously wanted to be playing the Australian PGA Tour, so I pushed them away for a couple of holes before I was like, yeah, they’re probably right.
“I saw my chiropractor that afternoon and he was very thankful to me that I did pull out, because he said it was in a position that was very susceptible to doing a lot of damage.”
Herbert has been a professional for seven years now and has slowly but surely worked his way to being one of Australia’s leading players. He knows this week on familiar territory provides a great opportunity to claim his own national open and he is aware of what a win would mean on such hallowed ground as Melbourne’s sandbelt.
“It’s a little bit like the Open Championship, winning at St Andrews versus winning at any other venues. You’re not going to say no to winning it at another venue, but it’s definitely a lot more special to win in on the Sandbelt, for me anyway, given I grew up basically around this area and have played a tonne of golf at both these golf courses.
“To win one here, it would just be, like you said, a lot more special than anywhere else where you don’t have that same connection. So yeah, it would be very cool to be holding that trophy at the end of the week.”
One of the disappointments of 2022 was being overlooked for the Presidents Cup team when other captain’s picks were ranked lower than himself but after initial disappointment he is now philosophical about the missed opportunity.
“The selections were made based off stats for Quail Hollow. Had it been at a different golf course, I might have got a different look-in for the way it was, but if you look at the statistics, the weakest area of my game is my driving accuracy and it’s something that you need around Quail Hollow.
“I obviously said last week that I was really pissed off to not play and I think I have every right to be pissed off. You can make a very solid argument as to why the six guys that got selected at Captain’s picks got selected and they did a great job. They did a lot better job than everyone game them credit for in terms of we thought it was going to be a 30-nil whitewash at the start of the event, so for a minute and a half there on Sunday it looked like we were have a chance there to win, the Internationals.
“Those picks played really well and if you go off the numbers, they were the rights picks to make. If I want to make that team next time and not have to worry about the politics, I just play better and get in as an automatic qualifier, but it’s still disappointing to have the year I had and feel like I was there to offer what I had and not get picked.”
Playing essentially at home (he hails from country Victoria’s Bendigo) Herbert will have family and friends urging him on and this morning he talked about an illness his mother is suffering at present and the role his parents have played in him becoming the golfer he has.
“Yeah, it’s just happened over the last couple of months,” added Herbert referring to his mother’s illness. “It’s sad to watch your parents go through that kind of stuff but she’s more stubborn than me, so I know that she’ll get through everything and get there at some point.
“My Dad’s a great support for her. I know he’ll do more than she wants him to do at home, so that sort of takes a bit of the pressure away and makes me feel a little bit more at ease, obviously being out there on tour. We’ve had a lot of conversations about it the last couple of weeks and Mum more than anything wants me to go and play well and get my head on TV so that it gives her something to watch early in the mornings or late at night sitting at home, rather than being able to travel with me. So, if that’s what she wants me to do, I’m going to have to go and work on that for her.”
Like so many others he sees Cameron Smith again as the man to beat this weekend and was full of praise for the man who was a peer in his amateur days.
“I think if you ask anyone standing around here and the bloke cleaning that marquee over there, they’ll all tell you that Cam Smith is the bloke to beat this week. I don’t care whether he’s got a hangover or not, he’s probably the second best golfer in the world right now.
“I don’t know whether rankings are reflective of that, but he is. He’s had the season that would prove that. He’s the guy I’ve got to beat, for sure. He’s proven that on multiple different venues, different styles of golf courses, everything like that. So I don’t think it matters that we’re now down in Victoria, he’s got a hangover. He’s definitely the guy we’ve got to beat.”
