Herbert shoots 61, leads DeChambeau by 3; Ripper with 4-shot team lead at LIV Golf UK Presented by JCB

ROCESTER, England – Fresh off his career-best finish in a major, Lucas Herbert continued that momentum into Thursday’s opening round at LIV Golf United Kingdom Presented by JCB. In the process, he produced another career-best – a bogey-free 11-under 61, his lowest-ever round relative to par.

“First time I’ve had 11, so that’s kind of cool,” Herbert said. “That’s a fun one.”

Definitely fun for the Ripper GC star, as he grabbed a three-shot lead at JCB Golf & Country Club after producing a round with nine birdies and an eagle. His closest pursuer is Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau, who shot an 8-under 64 that included a stretch of four consecutive birdies and another stretch of three straight birdies to go with his eagle at the par-5 sixth.

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Fueled by Herbert’s low round, Ripper shot a collective 19 under to lead the Crushers by four shots. Talor Gooch’s OKGC and Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII are tied for third, 11 shots off the lead.

A week ago at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, Herbert tied for 6th while DeChambeau tied for 14th. At one point, it appeared they would be in the final twosome for Saturday’s third round until DeChambeau was assigned a two-stroke penalty after his second round ended.

Now they’ll be in the final threesome for Friday’s second round at JCB along with OKGC’s Harold Varner, who is tied to third at 6 under with Legion XIII’s Tyrrell Hatton.

“Every time I play with him, it’s a fun battle,” Herbert said of DeChambeau. “He brings a lot of energy with the crowd. I’m kind of looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully the English crowds get out and feel the energy, too.”

Said DeChambeau: “I wish we could have gone to battle last week. It wasn’t that way. But life goes on … For me, I’m excited with Lucas tomorrow. That’ll be great.”

Herbert, who broke through with his first LIV Golf win earlier this season in Virginia, was certainly great on Thursday. He opened with three straight birdies, made the turn at 5-under 31, then holed a 47-1/2 foot eagle putt on the par-5 10th. He followed with four birdies during a five-hole stretch in the middle of his back nine, giving him a chance at a 59 going into the final two holes (he parred both).

“If you were going to pick days you were going to shoot 59, I wouldn’t have thought today would’ve been the day,” Herbert said. “The golf course is a little firm, which makes it play a little tougher, and a bit of breeze out there kind of moved around. I’m pretty incredibly happy with 61.”

In all he rolled in more than 120 feet of putts, an impressive performance given that he entered the week with a negative Strokes Gained Putting average. He’s in positive numbers for all other Strokes Gained key categories this season, which helps explains why ranks fourth in the season-long points race. His previous low round on LIV Golf was a 10-under 61 in the final round last year at Mexico City.

“Just continuing on that fun momentum from last week at The Open,” said Herbert, who tied a men’s major record by shooting a second-round 62 while taking the solo 36-hole lead at Royal Birkdale. “It’s nice when those putts roll in and golf feels the way it does right now.”

DeChambeau, whose previous two wins this season have come via playoffs in consecutive weeks in Singapore and South Africa, remains in contention for the Individual Championship. He’s second behind Rahm and essentially needs to prevent the Legion XIII captain from winning this week. Rahm opened with a 1-over 73 and is tied for 38th.

“I’m coming out here to win this even this week,” DeChambeau said when asked about chasing Rahm. “I’m coming out here to play the best I can. If he goes and beats me, hat’s off. I can’t control that. But I’m aware of it. Ultimately, I’m just trying to enjoy the next three days and play golf the way I know how to play golf.”

TOP OF THE LEADERBOARDS

Individual Top 10

1 (-11) – Lucas Herbert, Ripper (61)

2 (-8) – Bryson DeChambeau, Crushers (64)

T3 (-6) – Harold Varner III, OKGC (66); Tyrrell Hatton, Legion XIII (66)

T5 (-5) – Byeong Hun An, Korean (67); Richard T.Lee, Wild Card (67)

T7 (-4) – Luis Masaveu, Fireballs (68); Abraham Ancer, Torque (68); Charles Howell III, Crushers (68); Marc Leishman, Ripper (68); Ian Poulter, Majesticks (68); Scott Vincent, HyFlyers (68); Caleb Surratt, Legion XIII (68); Bjorn Hellgren, Wild Card (68); Anirban Lahiri, Crushers (68)

Team Top 3

1 (-19) – Ripper GC (Herbert 61, Leishman 68, Smith 69, Smyth 71)

2 (-15) – Crushers GC (DeChambeau 64, Howell III 68, Lahiri 68, Casey 73)

T3 (-8) – OKGC (Varner III 66, Gooch 71, Kokrak 71, McDowell 72)

T3 (-8) – Legion XIII (Hatton 66, Surratt 68, McKibbin 73, Rahm 73)

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ROUND 1 NOTES

RIPPER LEADS AFTER LINEUP CHANGE: The all-Australian Ripper GC won the first two tournaments this season and entered this week ranked second in team points behind 4Aces GC. But for the first time, they’re playing without first-year player Elvis Smylie, who won the individual title in his LIV Golf debut in Riyadh.

Smylie is out with an injury, with fellow Aussie Travis Smyth as his replacement. The Rippers grabbed the first-round lead with a collective 19 under, led by Lucas Herbert’s 11-under 61, followed by Marc Leishman (4-under 68), captain Cameron Smith (3-under 69) and Smyth’s 1-under 71.

“It’s great with Trav coming on this week,” Herbert said. “It’s a good confidence booster for him to see the team on top with him playing in it. I think he probably would’ve had some nerves and anxiousness coming in about wanting to perform.”

Smyth, a reserve player, was called up earlier this season at LIV Golf Korea by Crushers GC as a replacement for injured Paul Casey and finished tied for eighth to contribute to the Crushers’ team victory.

DECHAMBEAU REFLECTS ON OPEN: Crushers GC Captain Bryson DeChambeau tied for 14th at last week’s Open Championship, the third time in the last five years he’s produced a top-15 finish at The Open.

With a few days to process his performance, DeChambeau was pleased how he fought over the weekend. He finished at 4 under, six shots behind winner Ryan Fox.

“It was a good fight,” he said. “I wish I couldn’t have given it more on Saturday and Sunday. Felt like I could have. Besides the 5th hole, being 3-over on that hole, and then the 11th hole, that’s six shots. That’s tied for the lead right here. That’s two holes and I’m right there with the Claret Jug.”

FAST START FOR HERBERT: Lucas Herbert is a collective 87 under this year across all four rounds but is just 4 under collectively in Rd. 1. That he’s off to a red-hot start this week should pose some concern for the rest of the field, as Herbert is among the league’s best performers across the final three rounds. He’s 31 under in the second round, and 26 under in each of the final two rounds.

“That was probably a story earlier in the year,” Herbert said. “I was struggling to get out of the gate in the first few events, which sounds like it ruined my average a bit. … I think that stat probably points toward how well I finish tournaments rather than how poorly I’ve started them.

“I had a couple of shockers, like the first round in Saudi, I think I was dead last after Round 1.”

When Herbert won Maaden LIV Golf Virginia, he was fueled by a hot start that included rounds of 64-63 en route to a wire-to-wire win. Now he’s taken the first step toward a repeat performance this week.

MAJESTICKS UPDATE: All-England favorites Majesticks Golf Club shot a collective 3 under, leaving the team in a tie for sixth at 3 under as they chase their first-ever team tournament win. Co-Captain Ian Poulter led the way with a 4-under 68, with his fellow co-captain Lee Westwood shooting a 1-under 71. Local star Sam Horsfield shot a 1-over 73, as did teammate Laurie Canter.

VORSTER’S LIV GOLF DEBUT: South African Martin Vorster made his LIV Golf debut by shooting an even-par 72 as the replacement for injured Southern Guards Captain Louis Oosthuizen. The all-South African team is tied for eighth at 2 under. Vorster is the 109th different player to have competed in a LIV Golf tournament.

RAHM’S 73: Jon Rahm’s 1-over 73, which included four bogeys in a five-hole stretch in the middle of his round, is just his third round over par in his 37 regular-season LIV Golf rounds this season. The Legion XIII captain entered this week as the season-long points leader with a chance to clinch his third consecutive Individual Championship title with a victory but will need to rally in the next three rounds. He’ll enter Friday tied for 38th.

STATS LEADERS

Round 1

Driving Distance: Lucas Herbert, 320.9-yard avg.

Longest Drive: David Puig, 339.8 yards (10th hole). Official measured drives taken only on holes 8 and 10.

Driving Accuracy: Caleb Surratt, 85.71% (12 of 14)

Greens in Regulation: Caleb Surratt, 94.44% (17 of 18)

Scrambling: Harold Varner III (3 of 3), Charles Howell III (3 of 3), Lucas Herbert (2 of 2), Tyrrell Hatton (2 of 2), Abraham Ancer (2 of 2), Anirban Lahiri (2 of 2), Caleb Surratt (1 of 1), 100%

Fewest Putts: Peter Uihlein, 24

Bogey-free rounds: Lucas Herbert (61), Tyrrell Hatton (66), Abraham Ancer (68), Caleb Surratt (68), Charles Howell III (68), Anirban Lahiri (68)