{"id":806964,"date":"2026-07-17T22:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/806964\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T22:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T22:20:12","slug":"why-was-lucas-herberts-caddie-using-a-rangefinder-at-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/806964\/","title":{"rendered":"Why was Lucas Herbert’s caddie using a rangefinder at The Open?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tThe Open leader Lucas Herbert\u2019s caddie was spotted using a rangefinder at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n

A surge of both panic and intrigue briefly swept through The Open<\/a> at Friday lunchtime when it seemed Lucas Herbert was in hot water at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n

The Australian was on fire during his second round, tearing apart the Southport links by equalling both the lowest-ever Open front nine of 28 and the lowest ever round in a men\u2019s major<\/a> as he vaulted to the top of the famous yellow leaderboard. He finished one of the great Open rounds with an energy-sapping bogey, missing a four-footer for the lowest round in the tournament\u2019s history, but still posted a majestic 62 to match the record.<\/p>\n

On the 14th tee, though, Herbert\u2019s caddie Nick Pugh was spotted using a rangefinder, but distance measuring devices are banned in competition at golf\u2019s oldest major. Players, the rules stipulate, are prohibited from obtaining distance information by using an electronic distance-measuring device.<\/p>\n

So on first glance, it looked like Herbert could be in big trouble, potentially at risk of being hit with a two-shot penalty to derail his good work. The devices are permitted for distance measuring at the PGA Championship by the PGA of America, but not at The Open.<\/p>\n

TG asked Pugh after his round why he uses a rangefinder at Birkdale.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn LIV Golf we\u2019re allowed to use a rangefinder for distance-measuring purposes,\u201d he explained. \u201cI obviously know that we can\u2019t do it here or at the US Open. But there was another player at the US Open that his caddie was given the OK\u00a0to use a rangefinder without the battery in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI enquired very early on in the week with the R&A, one of the rules officials. I gave him a heads-up.\u00a0I said, \u2018Hey, this is what happened in the previous tournament.\u00a0Would this be OK?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt obviously went to the powers that be. It went right to the very top, and I was given the green light.\u00a0So, I informed our playing partners on the first tee yesterday.\u00a0I informed our walking referee, and I asked her for a second opinion. I said, \u2018Can you just make sure this is absolutely correct?\u2019 To which she came back on the second tee with a thumbs-up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you guys- my eyesight isn\u2019t great. The glasses aren\u2019t just there to make me look cool!\u00a0I sometimes struggle when the ball comes down.\u00a0I mean, this guy hits it a long way. He hits it 380 yards yesterday with a 3-wood.\u00a0And if he wants to know if the ball\u2019s in the bunker or not,\u00a0these old eyes don\u2019t see it so well.\u00a0So, I\u2019ll generally use the rangefinder, which pretty clearly has no battery inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

A relief, then, for those backing Herbert to emulate 1991 champion Ian Baker-Finch as an Aussie winner here at Birkdale this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Open leader Lucas Herbert\u2019s caddie was spotted using a rangefinder at Royal Birkdale. A surge of both…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":806965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,85],"class_list":["post-806964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}