4 minute read
Journeys
You must have faith in what you’ve got. I didn’t have faith. I admit it wasn’t the right way to handle it
By Lucas Herbert, with Keely Levins
Golf wasn’t incredibly popular where I grew up in Australia. I wasn’t a massive fan of it right away, but I played because it was family time with my dad and grandfather. Other sports were faster paced, more fun. But when I was 11, kids started getting bigger. I was small and scared of getting knocked around. That pushed me toward golf.
I made the primary school team, I was on the Australian national
and suddenly golf was all I wanted team. All of us were broke, sweating to do. My dad’s no golf $5 money games. The genius, but he taught me structure wasn’t working how to hold the club and for me. I had to use their what a swing should look coaches and follow their like. I started working with rules. You must have faith Dom Azzopardi when I was in what you’ve got. When 13 and still work with him today. Now I I couldn’t prepare how I wanted, I didn’t can look after Dom financially, but back have faith. I lost independence and conthen, after a lesson, my dad would ask trol and rebelled by partying and pracwhat we owed. Dom would ask, “What’s tising the minimum. It wasn’t the right in your wallet?” It could be $20; it could way to handle it. I was kicked out. be $80. We were fortunate to have Dom. ● ● ● ● ● ● My parents encouraged me to use I missed a lot of school for golf. My the setback as motivation. I reconmom was the assistant principal. She nected with Dom, but at the New Zeaexplained my absences to my teachers land Open, I bogeyed three of the last but told them to fail me if I didn’t do my four holes to miss the cut by a shot. work. When I was 18, I received scholar- My caddie, one of my best mates, said ship offers from colleges in America, but I could blame him if I wanted, but I had I wasn’t keen on studying anymore. my own stuff to look at. “All these peo● ● ● ple around you are making sacrifices I wanted more than anything to be for you, and you’re not taking this seria PGA Tour pro, but when I turned ously. You’re not putting in the work.” pro, I wasn’t convinced I could do it. Hearing that from him, it hit me, and I knew I was good. I’d been winning I started to really practise. amateur and junior tournaments. As ● ● ● a teenager, I noticed I had this ability to In the 2017 Australian Open, I was get the ball in the hole in a way that my in the final group with Jason Day. This competitors couldn’t. I could get myself was the season after he was World No. 1. out of trouble and save par. I could make We juggled the lead all day, but Cam the putts that had to go in. My friends Davis ended up winning. I’d been a and parents believed in me. professional for two years but never
LUCAS HERBERT AGE 26 LIVES PEREGIAN BEACH, AUSTRALIA
had proof my game stacked up against the best. For the first time, I believed I could make it on the PGA Tour. ● ● ●
My game was good enough to earn
a European Tour card for 2019. I put all this pressure on myself to win. Halfway through the season, I wasn’t sure I wanted to play anymore. My mental coach helped me realise that thinking only about winning made every week feel like a failure, so I set goals that weren’t result-based. I started playing nine holes after practice just for fun, re-learning the enjoyment of golf — 2020 felt like a new beginning. ● ● ● Then I won in Dubai. My approach on the first playoff hole went into the water. Everyone thought Christiaan Bezuidenhout had won, but I got up and down to force another playoff hole. I birdied it and won. I moved to Orlando, and when I had a break from the European Tour, I’d play Monday qualifiers and try to get invites to PGA Tour events. In 2021, I finished 18th at the Memorial and 19th at the Travelers. That got me into the Korn Ferry finals. I played well and clinched my PGA Tour card for 2022. ● ● ●
I booked my flight to Columbus for
the next Korn Ferry event. I landed and gave the rental-car desk my confirmation number, and they said, “That’s in Columbus, Ohio.” I’m like, “Well, where are we?” They said, “Columbus, Georgia.” I flew out the next day, shot 69 and finished T-58. ● ● ●
I missed the cut in my first two PGA
Tour starts as a rookie in 2021. I went to Bermuda, knowing the field was going to be weak. I was in the last group on Sunday. Some diabolical weather came through. I knew I could play in it and thought it would eliminate a lot of guys. Once I took the lead, I never lost it. ● ● ● That win changed my season. The highlight was playing the 2022 Masters. I brought my parents and friends. My girlfriend, Maggie O’Shea, caddied for me in the Par 3 Contest. On the seventh hole, I nearly made a hole-in-one. Everyone was going crazy, and those who had believed in me despite my mistakes were there. It was a perfect moment.
