Lucas Herbert is making a homecoming for the Australian summer of golf in 2022 as he strives to win the glittering prize of his first big championship in his native country.
Following his second top-15 finish in a major this year at the Open Championship at St Andrews, the 26-year-old Australian will play the Fortinet Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland from November 24-27 and the Australian Open at Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath in Melbourne from December 1-4.
Both tournaments are co-sanctioned by the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia and the DP World Tour, which is making a swing through Australia over the summer to launch its season.
World Number 52 Herbert said he had no hesitation about his decision to return home and play.
“I am definitely looking forward to the trip home,” he said. “I have been fortunate to spend most of the season in the United States and I certainly miss being home in Australia with my family and friends. I also really enjoy playing golf in Australia and am greatly looking forward to that as well.”
Herbert has won on the DP World Tour (twice, in 2020 and 2021) and the US PGA Tour in 2021, but through ill fortune and the pandemic, he has not yet put a top-level Australian tournament on his curriculum vitae. His best result in the big events was tied-sixth in the Australian Open at The Australian in 2017, when he led through two rounds and ended up in the final group with Jason Day on the last day before succumbing to Cam Davis.
In his most recent appearance at one of the top-tier events in this country, he was tied-64th at the Australian PGA Championship in 2019, and his single win on the Australasian Tour came as an amateur in 2013, when he won the Heritage Classic.
The Victorian’s best golf has been played overseas, but that is something he aims to change. “It would mean the world to me,” he said. “Australian golf is so important to me and to be able to win at home is something I have always dreamed of doing – it is a huge goal of mine.”
The Fortinet Australian PGA Championship has a prize pool of $2 million AUD, the richest prize on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia, following a successful 2021 event that offered plenty of fun and action at Royal Queensland where the event will remain for at least the next two years.
The Australian Open has a different look in 2022 after a two-year absence, with men’s and women’s Opens vying for a combined purse of $3.4 million AUD, as well as the Australian All Abilities Championship all being played at the same time on the same courses on the Melbourne Sandbelt.
The Fortinet Australian PGA Championship is proudly supported by the Queensland Government, through Tourism and Events Queensland and Brisbane City Council, through Brisbane Economic Development Agency. Tickets, Hospitality and VIP Experiences are on sale via Ticketek now.
The Australian Open is proudly supported by the Victorian Government through Visit Victoria. Tickets, Hospitality and VIP Experiences are on sale via Ticketek now.
