Lucas Herbert creates history at Royal Birkdale

Media Release:

Australia’s Lucas Herbert equaled the all-time low round in the 166-year history of men’s major championship golf by shooting an 8-under-par 62 in the second round of The Open at Royal Birkdale on Friday.

And it was only a missed par putt from around five feet on the 18th hole that prevented Herbert from creating history by being the first man to shoot a 61.

Just a few groups later, American Sam Burns finished birdie-birdie to also card a 62.

 

The duo joins Branden Grace, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele (twice), Shane Lowry and Kurt Kitayama as the only other players to post 62s in the history of the men’s majors.

South African Grace’s effort came in the last Open to be held at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

The previous best score by an Australian at a men’s major was 63 set by Bruce Crampton (1975 PGA Championship), Greg Norman (1986 Open Championship and 1996 Masters) and Jason Day (2015 PGA Championship).

"That's a really cool list to be a part of," Herbert said of joining the "62 club".

"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.

"I'm a golf nerd anyway, so I know all the numbers, all the records, everything like that."

After shooting an even-par 70 on Thursday, Herbert rapidly climbed into the tournament lead when he collected six birdies on the opening nine of his second round to go out in just 28 shots, matching the Open record for best front nine score.

After lipping out for a birdie on the 10th, the Victorian's charge continued when he picked up shots at the 11th and 12th to open up the possibility of creating majors history.

"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."

Three straight pars on 13 to 15 were followed by a 10-footer that dropped for birdie on the par-4 16th, but it was after his 340m drive found the fairway on the par-5 17th, creating the real chance of another birdie, that the first signs of nerves appeared to show.

His 5-iron approach shot sailed wide left but he still managed a par from a sandy lie, leaving him the task of making a four on the bunker-riddled last, playing as the hardest hole in Round 2, to wipe the 62s from the record book.

A driver into the rough to the right, a free drop coming to clear him from the spectator fence, was followed by a wedge which came up just short of the green, and a putt that didn’t quite roll out far enough to be stone dead.

The attempt at 61 slid agonisingly to the left, the 30-year-old blaming a misread for his only bogey of the day.  

"There's no swings I want back coming back down the stretch," Herbert said.

"Even the shot into 17, it was just poor execution. I thought I did a good job of doing what I thought I needed to do."

His previous best score in the majors was a 67 at the 2024 US PGA Championship, that mark now lowered by a massive five shots on one memorable morning.

"I'm absolutely disappointed (to not shoot 61), and at the same time, so proud of today," he said.

"Very, very proud to put my name on that list of guys that have shot 62 in a major championship. So it's kind of holding two emotions there at the same time. It's a tricky one, and I'm sure once the dust settles, I'll be able to sort of decompress it a little bit."

Herbert’s record-setting day didn’t come as a total surprise to his fellow Aussie Adam Scott who carded a Friday 66 to stay in touch at 2-under-par overall.

“He's got a lot of game. He's a big, strong guy,” Scott said.

“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. 

“I see him playing shots. So when he's on, I feel like the links kind of would really suit him because he can be creative and get more reward for it on the links rather than some other tracks.”

 

 

Back to News

More News