No matter how headstrong an athlete is, irrespective of their expertise in their chosen sport, it is impossible to block out the voices inside their head as they strive for greatness, as Australian Lucas Herbert can now attest to.
Having lipped out when on the cusp of stardom on Friday at Royal Birkdale, the bloke from Bendigo said the voices began murmuring away as soon as the third hole when he sensed he might be on a heater at the British Open.
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For more than four hours the ‘what ifs’ and ‘how abouts’ rattled through his head with a similar regularity to the putts that kept dropping, as the number in red ink against his name on the famous yellow scorecard kept increasing and increasing.
A stats nerd, Herbert knew what he was chasing. When he dropped his ninth and final birdie on the 16th, he sat within reach of a historic moment.
Only a handful of golfers had shot 62 in a major but no-one had ever tallied a 61. And the whispers became a roar.
“I don’t know that it got tougher necessarily. I mean, the first 12 holes, I might not play 12 better holes in my life,” he said.
“I was 8-under through 12, and you could make a very good argument that I could have been a couple better as well. I was very aware that that was not going to last forever, and it’s not like the golf course got harder. I just played a bit more normally.”
Among the many thoughts Herbert, who narrowly missed another birdie on 17 before pulling a record-breaking putt marginally left on the 18th, considered as he straddled the rarest of lines in golf was what it might mean back at home.
Herbert hails from Bendigo. At the start of the week, he likened the scorched turf at Royal Birkdale to the cricket grounds in the bush around the old gold-mining town that is now a major regional centre. He lived and breathed sport there as a kid.
Back then he had heroes to look up to. His dad Lyndon once woke him up in the middled of the night to watch the Masters, as so many mothers and fathers who are golfers in Australia do for their kids back home. It is a right of passage for young stars.
Now a member of the Ripper GC team that has tried to broaden the popularity of golf in Australia, Herbert said he realised a historic effort of his own might help convince the next generation to pick up a club and swing away like he did as a kid.
“Obviously I had a lot of thoughts running through my head today, and one of them at one point is one of my earliest golf memories,” he said.
“My dad waking me up to watch Chad Campbell in the first round in the 2009 Masters, because it looked like he had a really good chance to shoot 62 and break the record at that time.
“I thought about it (and pondered that) ‘if one kid gets woken up by their parents to watch me finish this round because that’s the record being broken, that would be so cool, and it would tickle me pink.’ I hope it happened. I hope some kid’s disappointed that I shot 62 and didn’t hole that putt on the last.
“It felt like a little bit of a full-circle moment there. I love going back to Australia and seeing how many kids are out there playing golf and how much the game is growing there. Even the conversations in recent times around the Australian Open, you can see how important that is as an event to the rest of the world.”
As he assessed his incredible round and the moment where he stood doubled-over, his hands on his knees, as the potential record-breaker edged past the 18th hole, the 30-year said that he felt both incredibly disappointed and incredibly proud.
He should be the latter. It was an immense round, one that captured the attention of the golf world as he closed on the record.
The fans were fully behind him, bellowing to him to “keep your eyes” on the prize after the snap-hook on 17, or to ask about the special the “herbs and spices” driving the birdie blitz, as one fan did in the Clarets Stand on 17, while urging the Aussie to just “keep on fighting”.
That was not too hard for the Victorian. Herbert hits the golf ball sweetly but he has always been a fighter.
He has battled through some difficult times which includes losing his spot on an Australian team when he was young for partying too much and practising too little. His parents Lyndon and Meredith encouraged him to learn from the setback.
He did. And Herbert went after the record rather than playing it cautiously, pulling out a driver he left out of the bag on day one to have a crack on the 17th and the 18th. He fell marginally short of a new mark, but equalled the best and did it his way.
British Open leader Lucas Herbert received a standing ovation as he walked up the 18th fairway at Royal Birkdale, where he equalled the major record of 62. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
As he strode up the 18th fairway, the grandstands on both sides leading up to the magnificent Art Deco clubhouse rose as one in ovation at his crack at history, to applaud his bid to land on the moon, to scale Everest and so on.
“It’s a really cool list to be a part of,” he said.
“Even that whole back nine today, it was not lost on me the amount of history in major championships and the opportunity I had to obviously break the record, but then to tie it as well is still something I’m really proud of.”
Leading into this week, Herbert said he felt it was only a matter of time before he corrected a curious record of succeeding at every level bar the majors, having loved the feel he was getting from his time on the links at Royal Birkdale.
Decorated compatriots Cameron Smith, his Ripper GC captain, Adam Scott and fellow Commonwealth Golf Club member Cam John, who is also enjoying the tournament of a lifetime, are not surprised by what he managed on Friday.
“He works hard. He keeps wanting to get better,” Smith 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 feel like the team environment has really helped him, and he’s asked questions. Now I think he’s learned everything he needs to learn, and he’s taking advantage of it and playing really good golf.
“And he’s so confident at the moment. Like once he gets going, like this morning 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.”
Lucas Herbert shakes hands with Bud Cauley of the United States after his record-equalling round on Friday. . (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)Source: AP
Scott, who shot 4-under to ensure he was safely inside the cut at 2-under, has no doubt Herbert’s exposure to Melbourne’s famous sand belt courses would have him primed to perform in dry conditions, a point also made by John.
“He’s got a lot of game. He’s a big, strong guy. This is a pretty out there comment because I don’t know his game inside and out, but I would fancy him around a links,” Scott said.
“I see him playing shots. So when he’s on, I feel like the links kind of course would really suit him because he can be creative and get more reward for it on the links rather than some other tracks.
“I think he grew up down in Melbourne, as well, on some firm and fast conditions. I’d say he’s probably got a pretty high level of comfort for it.”
An Open record secured, the job remains only half-done, for Herbert has to back it up on the weekend to make this a truly meaningful moment in his career.
A recent winner of the LIV Golf event in Virginia, he pointed to his sizzling rounds there as evidence he is capable of backing up a low score with another, but Herbert is also mindful that anything under par around Royal Birkdale is a good effort.
“Luckily I’ve probably got 24 hours until I tee off. I’ll go get some lunch, do some gym, go home and chill out with my family,” he said.
“I think by the time we wake up tomorrow morning, your focus will be back on the right stuff. I think the next 48 hours are definitely going to be stressful.
“There’s plenty of anxiety and whatnot with the position that I’m in, what that comes with, but I didn’t enter this tournament to not experience those feelings. So I’m kind of looking forward to it.”
Eyes on the prize; Lucas Herbert is the British Open leader heading into the weekend but is aware the job is only half-done. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images