Lucas Herbert takes early Australian Open lead
Lucas Herbert in full swing on day one – image Australian Golf Media
Scoring reflected the conditions on day one of the Australian Open at the Kingston Heath and Victoria Golf Clubs in Melbourne’s sandbelt, 54 players under par in the men’s field when day one came to a conclusion.
It is however one thing to get great scoring conditions and another to take full advantage but certainly Victorian Lucas Herbert did just that when he raced to the turn in 32 and topped off his early morning start with an eagle at his final hole of the day at the Victoria Golf Club.
Herbert was clearly happy with his good start in such a significant event, but in his post-round media appearance, he indicated that things might have been even better.
“I felt like there was a lot of shots left out there,” said the LIV Golf member. “I feel like that with every round of golf, to be fair, but didn’t really think I holed that many putts. Just hit it quite nicely. Got it into the right spots. Probably got a couple of lucky breaks here and there where shots that maybe weren’t the best didn’t get punished the way they could have.
“So, look, if that’s the worst round of the week, I’d be pretty happy, but I would suggest that’s probably not going to be the worst round of the week. So yeah, you just got to take your luck when you get it. There’s days where you can play well and just nothing goes for you. So yeah, I’m going to be happy with that.”
The recent winner of the NSW Open, Herbert was a little disappointing at last week’s Australian PGA Championship where he finished 43rd but back on familiar ground, he was feeling more at home on the sandbelt greens.
“I’m much more comfortable being back on these greens for sure. I can pick which way they’re going to go, which I had no idea about this last week.”
As someone who has relished the type of golf and mindset needed to handle the vagaries and nuances of sandbelt golf, Herbert was asked his feelings on the comments made by Cam Smith on the relatively soft conditions in which the layouts had been presented for the event.
“I mean, like I said before, it’s probably sacrilegious to come to the sandbelt and feel like you’re trying to land it past the hole. It’s just not the way that these courses are designed to be played. It’s a little frustrating seeing where some of the pins are. I think we could probably go harder and for a national Open, probably find a better golfer on the week, testing us with some harder pins.”
Still, Herbert is now one of Australian golf’s most credentialed current players having won on the PGA and DP World Tours and now a successful LIV Golf player and he has made the sort of start which could well make him a contender for the title in three days’ time.
Japan’s Rintaro Nakano and American Rhyggs Johnstone both played the Kingston Heath Golf Club and were round in 7 under par 65s to be just one off the pace.
Nakano the current Japan Amateur champion, will turn professional sometime next year but he is one of several high performing Japanese amateur golfers under the guidance of South Australian golf coach Gareth Jones.
Johnstone, who only recently gained his status on the DP World Tour through Q School, is playing in Australia for the first time but was a well credentialled amateur playing for Arizona State during his collegiate career.
Pre-tournament favourite Cam Smith is another shot back in a share of 4th place along with New Zealand 2024 Australasian Tour Order of Merit winner, Kazuma Kobori.
Su Oh and caddy Mike Clayton – image Australian Golf Media
In the women’s field, Victorian Su Oh has the joint lead with South Korean Hyojin Yang after their rounds of 7 under at Kingston Heath and Victori respectively.
Oh was once amongst Australia’s elite players but in recent times she has lost her LPGA Tour status and has struggled on the second Epson Tour in the US. In fact Oh has missed the cut in her last eight appearances in professional events so this is a pleasant and surprising turnaround.
Oh has recently began working with renowned Perth coach Ritchie Smith and the what she achieved today is a source of great satisfaction given the work she has been putting in.
“I’ve worked really hard last few months with Ritchie, said Oh. “I felt like I was hitting the ball much better, so I knew it was there, but I’m very happy and proud I just did it. Yeah, I think I had to dig deep and believe in what I’ve been practising and I’m really happy it paid off today.”
When asked if her form loss tested her desire Oh was quick to respond.
“Good thing I like playing golf. I think I wouldn’t keep playing if I didn’t like it. It was pretty tough, but I think I’m back on the right track with a better team around me, so I definitely feel more comfortable.
“Like I was telling on Monday, I played quite late and Marty and Ritchie came out after they flew in with the delay and I was like, ‘oh gee, I’ve never had three people with me in just playing a practice round in a long time’. So yeah, the support has been really nice even though I’ve been playing really crap. So yeah, I think it’s good.”
One of the more interesting aspects of her day was that she had on her bag local golf professional and pundit Mike Clayton who until recently had been caddying for the recently crowned Australian PGA Champion Elvis Smylie.
