Lucas Herbert recently recalled Tiger Woods’ 2009 visit to Kingston Heath as one of his “favorite memories.” Herbert is on the top of the leaderboard after two rounds at the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open, held at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne.
In 2009, Tiger Woods competed in the JBWere Australian Masters. He won the tournament by two strokes ahead of Greg Chalmers. Recalling Tiger Woods’ 2009 appearance, Herbert shared that the course’s firm and crisp conditions, with balls bouncing and rolling, impressed him. He said (via the Australian Open’s Instagram):
“So many of my memories are from whether we’re playing Panit here when it’s firm or even watching Tiger back in 2009 play here when it was just firm and crisp and balls bouncing and rolling.”It feels a little weird to throw it past the pin on some of these holes but even so it’s great to be on Kingston Heath, you know, one of my favourite courses in Australia, in the world so it’s a bit of a real treat this week,” he added.
The event became controversial after Woods took a $3 million fee for his appearance at the tournament. It was also his first victory on Australian soil.
At the time of writing, Lucas Herbert is tied for the first position with Ryggs Johnston after 16 holes in the third round. The local hero recently won the NSW Open, also his first professional win on home soil. He won the tournament by three strokes over Cameron Smith and two other players.
Smith was eight shots behind Herbert after the second round. Talking about Smith after the second round, Lucas Herbert said (via Golf Australia):
“I’m expecting him to make a run. I can’t shoot 72-72 this weekend and expect to win this golf tournament. There’s a lot of work still to be done, and I’m expecting these guys behind me to make a charge.”
The winner of the tournament will take home AUD 270,000 from a prize purse of AUD 1.7 million.
A look at Lucas Herbert’s performance in 2024
Lucas Herbert has had a decent 2024 season. In 13 starts on LIV Golf, he has had three top-10 finishes and eight top-25 finishes. He finished 25th in the season’s standings.
Herbert’s best performances include a T6 finish at LIV Golf Houston, LIV Golf Greenbrier, and LIV Golf Chicago. His other notable performances include a T14 at LIV Golf Adelaide and a T15 at LIV Golf Hong Kong.
Let’s take a look at Lucas Herbert’s performance in the 2024 season:
2024 LIV Tournaments
- LIV Golf Mayakoba: T21
- LIV Golf Las Vegas: T45
- LIV Golf Jeddah: T22
- LIV Golf Hong Kong: T15
- LIV Golf Miami: T51
- LIV Golf Adelaide: T14
- LIV Golf Singapore: T27
- LIV Golf Houston: T6
- LIV Golf Nashville: 48
- LIV Golf Andalucía: T35
- LIV Golf United Kingdom: T20
- LIV Golf Greenbrier: T6
- LIV Golf Chicago: T6
- LIV Golf Dallas – Stroke Play: T10
2024 PGA TOUR Tournaments
- PGA Championship: T43
2023-24 DP World Tournaments
- Fortinet Australian PGA Championship: T7
- ISPS Handa Australian Open: 7
