Lucas Herbert (-14) has put some distance in the ISPS Handa Australian Open. The Australian golfer delivered a card of 66 strokes in the second round and has opened up a more than interesting gap in the standings. He has a four-stroke lead over American Ryggs Johnston (-10) and five over a group of six players, including Elvis Smylie (-9), last week’s winner and author of the best round of the day, 64 strokes at the Kingston Heath Golf Club, or Harry Higgs (-9). Cameron Smith (-6), surely the big favourite for the win, lost ground today with a par round. Alfredo García Heredia (-6) is the best Spaniard, two strokes off the top 10.
Herbert has paid homage in these first two rounds to the ‘bubble’ of LIV Golf. We reported it in Ten Golf this very week: the good results obtained by players from the Saudi league outside in tournaments counting towards the world ranking. There have been 21 victories in 96 tournaments, and interestingly, the last one was Herbert’s a couple of weeks ago at the Ford NSW Open in Australasia. He is in form, he is a winner, and he has a four-stroke lead. Obviously, there are still 36 holes to go, but it won’t be easy to knock him off the top spot.
The leader’s great round had two brutal flashes. The first came at the start. A four-under-par in the first three holes, with an eagle and two birdies. The second came with three consecutive birdies on holes 13, 14, and 15. Bam, bam. Two strokes on the table and a solid lead in Melbourne. Let’s see who dares to bring him down now. A daunting task ahead.
Ryggs Johnston, second place on his own, recently earned his card through the School two weeks ago at Infinitum. He is American, 24 years old, and shared training at Arizona State with Alex del Rey, David Puig, and Josele Ballester. Before jumping to the European circuit, he spent a year competing on the PGA Tour Americas. His best result was a fifth place in Canada.
The Armada is delivering a solid and interesting performance, although for now, they are far from victory. This Friday, two more than interesting projects to assault the lead were forming, but both fell short. Alfredo García Heredia (-6) managed to get to eight under par, eyeing the lead head-on, after a sensational start to the round, with six birdies in ten holes at the Victoria Golf. However, a bogey and a double bogey in a three-hole stretch abruptly halted his progress. Still, he finished with a great birdie on the 9th, his 18th hole, to place himself two steps from the top 10 and only three from third place. Much to do yet in Australia.
Something similar happened to Ángel Ayora (-4). The Andalusian golfer managed to get to seven under par with four holes to go, even with options to break into the top 10 before the weekend. He added a great five-under-par in 14 holes. However, a bogey and a triple bogey consecutively on holes 15 and 16 at Kingston suddenly had him looking more at the cut than the lead. Like Alfredo, he recovered and finished with a birdie on his last hole to end on a better note.
Additionally, Manu Elvira (-5) emerged unscathed from an extraordinary rollercoaster ride. He didn’t make a par in the last eleven holes, with seven birdies and four bogeys. It was a tremendous exchange of blows that ended with the Cantabrian in the top 20 and looking up in the standings. Similarly, Sebas García (-3), heavily marked by double bogeys, one on his first hole and another on the last, and Iván Cantero (-2) made the cut. The Asturian’s day started uphill with two initial bogeys and another bogey in the second half of his round, but on both occasions, he resisted like a titan to finish making the cut on the number with five birdies to his name.
The downside of the week was for Joel Moscatel and Rafa Cabrera Bello, who missed the cut. Other important names that missed out include Cam Davis, Victor Perez, and Jordan Smith.
