Herbert leads with opening round 61 as DeChambeau chases 3 shots behind

ROCESTER: Lucas Herbert and Bryson DeChambeau picked up right where they left off at Royal Birkdale to sit first and second respectively after the opening round of LIV Golf UK on Thursday.

Having finished tied sixth at the Open last weekend, Ripper GC star Herbert closed the day at the JCB Golf and Country Club with an 11-under 61, a bogey-free effort that broke the course record of 62 set four years ago at a Legends event.

This is the lowest score relative to par in his LIV Golf career and a continuation of a stretch that has seen Herbert become one of golf’s current most in-form players. Herbert, who won in Maaden LIV Golf Virginia in early May, had the 36-hole lead and the tied all-time major scoring record at The Open Championship and has now shot 11 under in the first round at JCB.

The Australian golfer made the turn in 5-under 31 and kept the foot down with a 6-under back nine, missing a chance at something even more special when a putt on 17 for a shot at 59 just missed.

“Of course it was” on his mind, Herbert admitted afterwards: “You could see in my reaction there on 17, when that didn’t go in, I was like, that was my chance. But if you were going to pick days you were going to shoot 59, I wouldn’t have thought today would have been the day. The golf course is a little firm, which makes it play a little tougher and a bit of breeze out there that kind of moved around. I’m pretty incredibly happy with 61 still.”

He credited his recent run of results for a new level of belief. “I think once you’ve been there and done that a little bit, you have the confidence that you know you can do it,” he said. “I feel like I’m getting a new taste for being out there at the top of the leaderboard.”

Right behind him,