Lucas Herbert of Ripper GC in action during the first round of LIV Golf United Kingdom presented by JCB at JCB Golf & Country Club in Rochester on Thursday. Image courtesy LIV Golf.
By Rahul Banerji
Less than a week after leading the 154th Open Championship with a record-equalling round, Lucas Herbert of Australia and Ripper GC was atop the LIV Golf UK leaderboard at Rochester in England on Thursday.
Having brought in a career-best finish at Royal Birkdale on Sunday, Herbert fired a bogey-free 11 under par 61 to finish the opening round three strokes up the road from Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau.
“First time I’ve had 11, so that’s kind of cool,” Herbert said at the JCB Golf and Country Club. “That’s a fun one.” His round included nine birdies and an eagle while DeChambeau’s 8 under 64 contained four consecutive birdies and another stretch of three straight gains, and an eagle.
Led by Herbert’s low score, the all-Australian Rippers returned a 19 under score to head the Crushers by four shots. Talor Gooch’s OKGC and Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII shared third place, 11 shots off the pace.
The Crushers (15 under) were boosted by India star Anirban Lahiri’s bogey-free 68 which was matched by team mate Charles Howell III.
Herbert, who scored his first LIV Golf win earlier this season in Virginia, opened with three straight birdies, made the turn at 5-under 31, then holed a 47-1/2 foot eagle putt on the par-5 10th.
He followed with four birdies during a five-hole stretch in the middle of his back nine, giving him a chance at a 59 going into the final two holes which he parred.
“If you were going to pick days you were going to shoot 59, I wouldn’t have thought today would’ve been the day,” Herbert said.
Firm going
“The golf course is a little firm, which makes it play a little tougher, and a bit of breeze out there kind of moved around. I’m pretty incredibly happy with 61.”
In all the Australian rolled in more than 120 feet of putts, an impressive performance given that he entered the week with a negative Strokes Gained Putting average, the LIV Golf website said.
Herbert’s numbers are far better for all other Strokes Gained categories this season, putting him fourth in the season-long points race. His previous low round on LIV Golf was a 10 under 61 in the final round last year at Mexico City.
“Just continuing on that fun momentum from last week at The Open,” said Herbert, who tied a men’s major record by shooting a second-round 62 while taking the solo 36-hole lead at Royal Birkdale.
“It’s nice when those putts roll in and golf feels the way it does right now.”
At The Open, Herbert finished in a tie for sixth while DeChambeau shared 14th place. They were in line to be in the final twosome for Saturday’s third round until the American was assigned a two-stroke penalty after his second round had ended.
Instead, on Friday, they will be in the final threesome for the second round at JCB along with OKGC’s Harold Varner, who was tied for third on 6 under with Tyrrell Hatton of Legion XIII.
Fun battles
“Every time I play with him, it’s a fun battle,” Herbert said of DeChambeau on livgolf.com.
“He brings a lot of energy with the crowd. I’m kind of looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully the English crowds get out and feel the energy, too.”
Added DeChambeau: “I wish we could have gone to battle last week. It wasn’t that way. But life goes on … For me, I’m excited with Lucas tomorrow. That’ll be great.”
With a few days to process his Open performance, DeChambeau said he was pleased at how he fought over the weekend, finishing six shots behind winner Ryan Fox of New Zealand.
“It was a good fight,” he said. “I wish I could have given it more on Saturday and Sunday. Felt like I could have.
“Besides the fifth hole, being 3-over on that hole, and then the 11th hole, that’s six shots. That’s tied for the lead right here. That’s two holes and I’m right there with the Claret Jug.”
DeChambeau, who has already won this season in consecutive playoffs at Singapore and South Africa is also in the race for the individual season’s championship, second behind series leader Jon Rahm of Legion XIII.
“I’m out here to win this even this week,” DeChambeau said when asked about chasing Rahm.
“If he goes and beats me, hat’s off. I can’t control that. But I’m aware of it. Ultimately, I’m just trying to enjoy the next three days and play golf the way I know how to play golf.”
Leaderboards
Individual Top 10
1. (-11) – Lucas Herbert, Ripper (61)
2. (-8) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (64)
T3 (-6) – Harold Varner III, OKGC (66); Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (66)
T5 (-5) – Byeong Hun An, Korean (67); Richard T.Lee, wild card (67)
T7 (-4) – Luis Masaveu, Fireballs (68); Abraham Ancer, Torque (68); Charles Howell III, Crushers (68); Marc Leishman, Ripper (68); Ian Poulter, Majesticks (68); Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (68); Caleb Surratt, Legion XIII (68); Bjorn Hellgren, Wild Card (68); Anirban Lahiri, Crushers (68)
Team Top 3
1. (-19) – Ripper GC (Herbert 61, Leishman 68, Smith 69, Smyth 71)
2. (-15) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 64, Howell III 68, Lahiri 68, Casey 73)
T3 (-8) – OKGC (Varner III 66, Gooch 71, Kokrak 71, McDowell 72)
T3 (-8) – Legion XIII (Hatton 66, Surratt 68, McKibbin 73, Rahm 73)
Day 1 stats
Driving Distance: Lucas Herbert, 320.9-yard avg.
Longest Drive: David Puig, 339.8 yards (10th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 8 and 10.
Driving Accuracy: Caleb Surratt, 85.71% (12 of 14)
Greens in Regulation: Caleb Surratt, 94.44% (17 of 18)
Scrambling: Harold Varner III (3 of 3), Charles Howell III (3 of 3), Lucas Herbert (2 of 2), Tyrrell Hatton (2 of 2), Abraham Ancer (2 of 2), Anirban Lahiri (2 of 2), Caleb Surratt (1 of 1), 100%
Fewest Putts: Peter Uihlein, 24
Bogey-free rounds: Lucas Herbert (61), Tyrrell Hatton (66), Abraham Ancer (68), Caleb Surratt (68), Charles Howell III (68), Anirban Lahiri (68)
Also read: Herbert leads at Royal Birkdale with record-equalling second round
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