SOUTHPORT, England — There was so much red on Lucas Herbert’s scorecard Friday it looked like it was bleeding during his British Open second round at Royal Birkdale.
The 30-year-old Aussie, who plays on LIV Golf, looked unstoppable in a mad pursuit to break the major championship record of 62 for lowest score ever.
He was in perfect position to do so at 9-under-par for the day and poised to shoot at least a 61 as he stood on the par-5 17th tee.
But alas, Herbert would fall short and the record would remain at 62 as he made a disappointing par on 17 and then bogey the 18th to finish with 8-under-par 62.
Herbert missed a four-foot par put on the 18th that would have give him the record alone at 61.
In the end, all Herbert was able to do was join the list of players who’d carded 62s in majors. He joined Branden Grace in the 2017 British Open, Rickie Fowler and Scottie Scheffler in the 2023 U.S. Open and Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry in the 2024 PGA Championship.
Herbert was in great position to get to 10-under when he piped his tee shot to the middle of the fairway on the 573-yard par-5 17th hole. He had only 201 yards to the green but pulled his approach shot way left.
The errant shot left him with a blind chip over a dusty mound for his third shot, and he pulled it off brilliantly, leaving himself a 10-foot birdie putt.
But he slid his birdie attempt to the left of the cup and settled for par.
On 18, a 496-yard par-4 that Cam Young on Thursday described as one of the toughest holes he’s played as a professional, Herbert sent his tee shot well right, leaving himself with 173 yards to the flag.
He hit 9-iron short of the green, left his first putt four feet short and then missed that one, taking massive wind out of his marvelous round.
It all left him two shots clear of Jackson Suber for the lead at that moment.
After shooting an uneventful even-par 70 on Thursday, Herbert went on a birdie rampage early in Friday’s round getting four of the first five holes en route to shooting a 6-under-par 28 on the front nine.
He would add birdies on Nos. 11, 12 and 16 on the back to get to 9-under as he walked to the 17th tee and squandered the chance to add to it.
This is Herbert’s 18th career major championship, and his best finish to date was a tie for 13th at the 2022 PGA Championship.
He got into the field having finished runner-up at the New Zealand Open, part of the Open Qualifying Series.
This is Herbert’s fifth British Open with a top finish a tie for 15th in 2022. His low Open round was a 67 and he entered the day with a scoring average of 71.57.
Herbert, who joined LIV in 2024 and plays for the Ripper GC, is fifth on the LIV Golf points list this year. In nine events, he has one win and five finishes inside the top 10.
“He just works hard, keeps wanting to get better,’’ Cam Smith, Herbert’s fellow Aussie and Rippers teammate on LIV, said. “He was already good when he came and joined the Rippers a couple years ago, and you’ve seen him go from strength to strength.
“I think he’s learned everything he needs to learn, and he’s taking advantage of it and playing really good golf,’’ Smith went on. “And he’s so confident at the moment. Like once he gets going, like (Friday) I’m sure he’s just hitting it in there to three and four feet on every hole and making putts. Like once he gets his irons going, it’s pretty cool to watch.’’
