Herbert wins maiden LIV title, secures US Open spot

Lucas Herbert claimed his maiden LIV Golf tournament success. (Getty Images: Tasos Katopodis) Lucas Herbert claimed the LIV Golf Virginia event from Sergio García by four shots, despite seeing his four-shot advantage whittled down to a single shot in the final round. Herbert was the final member of the all-Australian Ripper team to win a LIV event. By winning, Herbert secured his spot at the US Open in New York next month. Link copiedShareShare articleAustralian golfer Lucas Herbert has held his nerve to claim his maiden LIV Golf League title and secure a ticket to next month's US Open in New York. Herbert had a five-shot final-round lead slashed to one before regaining his composure to see off the challenge of Spanish great Sergio García in a dramatic climax to LIV Golf Virginia. Too ill to complete a full practice round before the big-money event, Herbert showcased all his character and grit in closing with a roller-coaster three-under-par 69 to win by four shots and collect a life-changing $US4 million ($A5.54 million) winner's cheque. The Bendigo product finished at 24 under for the 72 holes, with García (70) edging out big-hitting American Bryson DeChambeau (66) by a shot to snare the runner-up spoils at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC. Teammates Cameron Smith, Marc Leishman and Elvis Smylie showered Herbert with champagne on the 18th green after the 30-year-old's wire-to-wire triumph completed a full set of LIV Golf individual victories for the all-Australian Ripper GC outfit. Leishman jagged his maiden title last year in Miami before Smylie held off Jon Rahm down the stretch to score a thrilling one-shot victory at LIV Golf Riyadh in February. Ripper skipper Smith is a three-time LIV winner but, ironically, his most recent victory came before his three teammates' breakthroughs, three years ago in New Jersey. With his seventh professional victory, Herbert has also now won on all four major worldwide circuits, having previously saluted on the US PGA Tour, Europe's DP World Tour and in Australasia. Lucas Herbert is off to the US Open in New York next month. (Getty Images: Tasos Katopodis) "Probably that I can perform pretty damn well when things aren't perfect," Herbert said when asked what he had learnt about himself. "I was pretty sick all week and I woke up this morning probably feeling worse than I did the last few days. "I had Sergio coming at me for 36 holes really hard and he pushed me the whole way, made me earn that one." Despite the end margin, Herbert's success came anything but easily. With four birdies in his first eight holes, he was cruising after building a five-shot advantage. But after overcooking his nine iron on the par-3 ninth and needing three chip shots to find the green, Herbert racked up a dreaded double bogey as García drained a 30-foot birdie putt in a three-shot swing. ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. Herbert was suddenly clinging to a two-stroke lead heading to the back nine. The buffer was just one when García conjured a tap-in birdie at number 10. But there was a further twist at the 11th, when Herbert holed a testing 12-foot downhill putt before García missed his shorter birdie attempt to give the Australian some breathing space, two shots back in front. He was four clear again after picking up the sixth birdie of his round on 12 and García bogeyed 13, before slamming the door shut on the Spaniard with another birdie at 15. "I missed a few putts here and there and made it a contest late, but after the rain delay, the way I played those eight shots, I'm so proud of that and can't wait to celebrate with everyone tonight." Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)PromotionSportBold Bledisloe Cup proposal could be a major win for Australian and NZ rugbyAnalysis by Luke Pentony

Herbert wins maiden LIV title, secures US Open spot

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