WE’RE OFF TO SEE WIZARD OF OZ LUCAS
LUCAS HERBERT was thinking about quitting golf when he was last at the Renaissance.
Less than 15 months on, the Australian is leading the Scottish Open pack with this year’s Dubai Desert Classic title already in his bag.
Herbert was growing frustrated at his lack of form last year and was considering giving up the game having reached a “tipping point” during the summer fortnight at the Irish and Scottish Opens.
But the 24-year-old shook himself up and charged back to the level that saw him clinch seven top-10 finishes in 2018.
Herbert celebrated his first European Tour triumph when winning a play-off in Dubai at the start of the year and is now halfway to another success in East Lothian.
The Bendigo boy leads Englishman Robert Rock by one after a six-under 65 lifted him to 11 under.
Herbert said: “To be honest, I turned up here on Wednesday and hit it all over the place, so I wasn’t expecting too much the last few days.
“But it’s all come together nicely. I’ve given myself a lot of chances and could have easily been another four or five under if I had rolled more putts in. But that’s just been great.
“It’s taken the pressure off and I haven’t had to get it up and down from ball washers to try to save pars. There’s still a long way to go and I would say I’m still going to have to keep the foot on the accelerator.”
Herbert had already racked up four birdies by the time he was five holes into yesterday’s round.
The Aussie, with John Rawlings on his bag, admits winning a prestigious Rolex Series is an exciting prospect.
He added: “A second victory would be great at the moment. A Rolex Series would be pretty cool as I would like to look at Johnny walking around with a gold caddie bib on. That’s definitely something I’d like to do.
“I haven’t played that well in the Rolex Series in my career, so it would be a step forward to put in a good result. Whether it’s a win or whether it’s a top 10 or 20, that would be that good step.”