Making Every Post a WINNER
Lucas Herbert’s stellar rise in 2018 has him among the favoured players to win this month’s ISPS Handa World Super 6 Perth, which will see the young Victorian edge closer to a top-50 world ranking and the spoils it can o€ffer.
It’s safe to say US Open and US PGA champion Brooks Koepka had a pretty good time of it in 2018. So too women’s World No.1 Ariya Jutanugarn on the LPGA Tour. Tiger Woods was the comeback player of the year on the PGA Tour. And the “mad scientist” that is Bryson DeChambeau established himself as one of golf’s foremost practitioners. Then there is Open champion Francesco Molinari, who also won the biggest event on the European Tour, a maiden PGA Tour title and five points out of five as Europe comfortably saw off the United States to win yet another Ryder Cup.
Impressive stuff to be sure. But just a little bit lower on golf’s lucrative food chain, a young Australian has also distinguished himself over the past 12 months. After starting 2018 ranked 278th in the world, Lucas Herbert has made remarkable progress, rising almost 200 places on the back of a string of excellent performances.
On the European Tour alone, the 22-yearold Victorian racked up as many as seven top-seven finishes. All of which he achieved as a mere “affiliate member” existing on a diet of tournament invitations procured by his management group and, through top-five finishes in places like Italy, Sweden and Portugal, exemptions into the following week’s events.
It all started at home in Australia though. One week after running second in the 2017 New South Wales Open, Herbert was playing alongside Jason Day in the final group on the weekend in the Australian Open. Leading with nine-holes to play, the youngster faded to a tied sixth finish, but it was what the modern world likes to call “a great learning experience.”
“Even with all that has happened for me over the past 12 months, the biggest thing was playing with Jason at The Australian,” says Herbert. “I got so much out of that. My swing coach and my mental coach both said I matured about three years that weekend.
“It was just seeing how he played and the way he hit the ball. I realised I wasn’t that far away. I’d never really seen anyone on that level up close, apart from playing nine-holes in a practice round with Adam Scott. But that isn’t tournament golf in tournament conditions. Plus, Jason and I were the last group out. It wasn’t as if we were out first on Saturday morning. So I saw his good stuff.”
One week later, things took an even better turn for Herbert. Fighting mental and physical exhaustion, his tied seventh finish in the Australian PGA Championship gave him the opportunity to take up that affiliate membership of the Old World circuit. And so it has gone on – and on and on. A tied eighth finish in the Singapore Open gave Herbert entry into the Open Championship at Carnoustie. Third in the World Super 6 in Perth and tied third in the Sicilian Open meant even more points on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai. Suddenly, full exemption for 2019 was a viable proposition.
All of which was a long way from Herbert’s more modest ambitions as 2018 dawned. And certainly a long, long way from the life he led in 2017.
“I went to the Q-school in Canada early in 2017 and got my card,” he says. “I didn’t really have much status though. So I was qualifying on Mondays. I missed the first three by a shot each time. So that wasn’t working out.
“I came home in the middle of the year and played Fiji and the Diamond Cup in Japan. I had my card in Australia but that was never going to be enough. Then I went to the Web.com Q-school and missed there. I was running out of immediate options. And if my aim was to get to
My immediate aim is to get into the top-50. that would get Me into all the Majors and the world golf championships in 2019. – lucas herbert
where I am now in 12 months, I was running out of time real quick.
“So my plan at that stage was to go back to Canada. Then the Web.com school again. Basically repeating what I had already done. I was thinking I had 10 years to get to the PGA Tour so there was no rush. I wasn’t panicking but I was a bit deflated.”
Indeed, even as things were picking up on the course, there were low moments. One week after playing so well in Singapore, Herbert was in China gazing mournfully out of a hotel window and wishing with all his heart never to see that country again in 2018. It was a wish that did not come true as Herbert would later miss the cut in the European Tour’s Volvo China Open. But that was but a blip in his accelerating progress on golf’s second-biggest circuit.
“I had my place in the Open,” he says. “I was in the Dunhill Links off my Australian status. And I had Perth and Fiji. If IMG could get me some starts, I felt like I would have a chance of some status in Europe next year. That was my motivation for joining as an affiliate.
“I actually didn’t need an invitation for a while. I played in Perth off my Australian status. Top-five there got me into Oman the next week. I missed the cut there but got into the Volvo China Open because I was in the top-250 in the world. I played Sicily on an invite. Top-five there got me into Belgium. Then I pre-qualified for the US Open. So I got that far on only one invite. It was only after the Open that I really needed those. But they only gave me the chance to do well. I still had to do it.
“And yes, I didn’t really feel like I belonged playing on invites. But I played well and justified the faith shown in me. No one really ‘deserves’ an invite, but because I played so well I felt like I belonged. There is a lot of pressure when you are in the position I was. When you do get to play, you just have to play well.”
None of which was happening by accident. Displaying a maturity far beyond his tender years, Herbert has invested heavily in his future by paying for his swing coach, Dom Azzopardi, and his physio, Simone Tozer, to travel with him almost full-time. Their all-but constant presence has proved hugely beneficial, along with another recent, albeit temporary, addition to the
Herbert back-up squad, caddie Craig Connelly. In their first two events together, Herbert and Connelly – universally known as “wee man” – combined for top-10 finishes in the Dunhill Links Championship and the British Masters.
“I have done well almost every time Dom and Simone have come out,” says Herbert. “So that has been a big factor in my success. They have been huge. I obviously couldn’t afford too many down weeks. If you look at my expenses it seems like I have spent a lot. But I have made a lot more because they have been with me. I see it all as an investment, even if, at the age of 22, I have spent the money that I have. Especially with no return guaranteed. But it has to be the best decision I’ve made in the last 12 months.”
Connelly, who has worked with the likes of Paul Casey, Colin Montgomerie and, most recently, Martin Kaymer, concurs.
“Lucas has done very well in the events where we have worked together so far,” says the Scot. “I like his attitude. He has a desire to do well and get to the top. He has big goals, lofty goals for a 22-year old. I like everything he does. He’s very professional. He is asking me what he needs to do to improve and my advice is just to keep doing what he is doing. I haven’t felt the need to step in because he is making a big mistake. For example, he’s a great driver and I’ll be hesitant to take it out of his hands. He has all the attributes you need to go a long way in this game.”
That is the plan. But Herbert, not a young man who is habitually slow in coming forward, is staying relatively calm for the moment.
Following what used to be the traditional path for all young Aussies – a few years in Europe before crossing the Atlantic to earn a share of the even bigger riches on the PGA Tour – he knows he is far from the finished article.
“My game still needs a lot of refinements,” he admits. “My wedge play in particular, although it has improved a lot. That is a big key at this level. And because Simone has done such a great job getting my body feeling the same way every day, my swing has been a lot more consistent. Other than that, the improvements have been quite subtle. I’ve been working hard on my ‘wind shot.’ You need that one at places like Carnoustie. But in general I am controlling the flight on my shots so much better.
“My immediate aim is to get into the top-50. That would get me into all the majors and the World Golf Championships in 2019. I’d like to keep my status in Europe and play as many of the Rolex Series events as I can. I feel an obligation to the European Tour after getting so many invites this year. They have looked after me. All of which would mean managing my schedule well.
“What I don’t want to do is ‘chase’ the PGA Tour and lose touch with Europe. I know other guys have done that and ended up caught between the two.”
Looking forward – but not too far – Herbert is keen to enjoy the relative luxury his exempt status on the European Tour will bring. There will, for example, be no last-minute rushes across the globe to take advantage of belated invitations into events. In 2019 he will be able to plan his schedule and, just as importantly, his weeks off. Weeks that will be spent in Australia. At least for now, Herbert has no plans to establish a base in the UK.
“My plan this year is to play the European Tour from home,” he says. “I can play two in Australia (Vic Open and World Super 6 Perth) and a
I LIKE HIS ATTITUDE. HE HAS A DESIRE TO DO WELL AND GET TO THE TOP. HE HAS BIG GOALS, LOFTY GOALS FOR A 22-YEAR-OLD. – CRAIG CONNELLY
couple more back in the Middle East. So far, so straightforward. Then there are a couple in Asia. It isn’t until May that the tour gets to Europe. And from that point I can go over for three-four weeks then come back home for three.”
Speaking of home, there is one week in particular this year when Herbert wants to be in Melbourne.
“I am already having massive thoughts of the Presidents Cup,” he says. “I’m really keen to play. My apartment is maybe one kilometre from Royal Melbourne. But there is a long way to go.
“It would really help if I could play a bit in the States, where there are more points. I’m going to have at least as good a 2019 as I have in 2018 to have a chance.”
Should he make the International squad for the biennial match with the United States, Herbert’s already burgeoning stock would get a further boost. Already though, he is an internet star.
At the urging of Golf Australia columnist Mike Clayton, he recently took part in an experiment at his home club of Commonwealth where he mixedand-matched a series of shots with his own driver, the modern ball, a persimmon-headed driver and some old balata balls. The aim was to demonstrate just how much benefit the modern player gets from 21st century technology. And, to the participant’s amazement, the footage went viral.
“It was massive on-line,” he confirms with a smile. “Which was cool. And interesting. I was like a test dummy. I hit every drive with both clubs using the swing I would normally use with my metal-headed driver. Which meant I was swinging too hard with the persimmon driver and I was hitting them everywhere. On the course I would have adjusted my swing just to keep the ball in play. But it was a fascinating test. I had never hit a balata ball with a persimmon driver.”
Given his current rate of progress, what Herbert will be hitting is the heights. He certainly thinks so. He is not a golfer who lacks confidence, albeit his state of inner-belief is balanced by just the right level of humility.
“What I have is a lot of X-factor,” he says. “I can hit a lot of shots other guys can’t hit. But they have shots I don’t have. So I have to learn those. Then the X-factor can really kick in.”
Indeed. And one can only imagine what Y and Z might bring.