[PHOTO: Golf NSW]
Lucas Herbert held off superstar Cameron Smith to win the Ford NSW Open at Murray Downs Golf & Country Club, his first title on the PGA Tour of Australasia.
The LIV Golf duo – 2022 Open champion, Smith, and his Ripper GC teammate, Herbert – lived up to their billing as superstars playing a state open in a regional town with a prize purse of $800,000. Fans walked in the fairways during all four rounds, watching up close as the two multiple winners across golf’s major tours navigated the delightful Murray River resort course.
The 28-year-old Herbert secured a meaningful victory at a course he knows well, while friends in the gallery drove two hours from his hometown of Bendigo, Victoria, to cheer him on.
“It’s a very unique win,” Herbert said. “I looked in the crowd and I saw plenty of faces I know. I think it’s going to be a very nice celebration tonight. Hopefully, for my friends who are here, their employers will be a little forgiving of them tomorrow because I plan on making all of them miss work.”
It was Herbert’s first official victory in 19 months since claiming the ISPS Handa Championship in Japan, his third title on the DP World Tour, in April of 2023. Herbert shot a final-round 67 to finish at 15-under-par (269) at Murray Downs while Smith suffered three-putts on the final two holes when he needed a par-birdie finish to force a playoff.
Smith’s five bogeys and two birdies resulted in a disappointing three-over 74, dropping him to a tie for second with Alexander Simpson and Corey Lamb. Smith’s putter went cold after three days of displaying his usual world-class form on the greens.
Herbert and Smith were grouped together for the opening rounds and were first and second on the leaderboard, triggering a third day playing together. They were split up for the final round but Herbert knew he had to bring his A-game in strong winds to defeat Smith, a six-time PGA Tour winner and three-time LIV Golf winner.
” I think it was good healthy competition for both of us; [Smith] definitely elevated my game over the first [few] days and hopefully I pushed him a little harder than he would have liked,” Herbert said.
When Smith went out in one-over for the front nine on Sunday, Herbert threw down the gauntlet with three birdies. As Smith continued to struggle on the back nine, Herbert put more pressure on with birdies at 12 and 14 making up for a bogey on 13. He made four closing pars to get the job done, while Smith dropped shots on 14, 17 and 18.
” I just stayed really patient because I knew it was gonna be tough,” Herbert said of the wind. “I think everything turned on eight when I made birdie there [and Smith made bogey minutes later]. That was playing really tough, that hole, and and it was almost a two-shot swing, in a way.”
Herbert had never won on Australian soil, despite collecting plenty of trophies overseas. His three DP World Tour wins included the prestigious Dubai Desert Classic and the Irish Open, while he had one PGA Tour win before joining LIV Golf at the start of 2024.
“I’ve got my eyes on that trophy,” a proud Herbert said of the Kel Nagle Cup, a trophy inscribed with names such as Greg Norman, Jim Ferrier, Ian Baker-Finch, Bob Shearer and Jack Newton.
Smith and Herbert will now join the likes of Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Cam Davis as well as a stellar group of European talent at next week’s Australian PGA at Royal Queensland, a DP World Tour event.
