SOUTHPORT, July 17 : Australia's Lucas Herbert fell agonisingly short of the lowest round in men's major history with a stunning eight-under-par 62 firing him to the top of the British Open leaderboard on Friday.The 30-year-old, who began the day on level par, had a par putt of around five feet on Royal Birkdale's 18th green to make history, but it slid past for his only bogey of the day.Despite an incredible round of golf he looked dejected as he shook hands with his playing partners, having equalled the men's major record low round achieved on several occasions, including by Branden Grace at the 2017 Open also at Royal Birkdale.With benign conditions on the sun-baked course, Herbert unleashed a breathtaking blitz of birdies.
He rolled in six as he reached the turn in 28 shots - equalling the nine-hole Open record of Denis Durnian at Birkdale in 1983. His assault continued on the back nine with birdies at the 11th, 12th and 16th and when he set up a birdie putt on the 17th with a stunning chip even a sub-60 round looked possible.Herbert missed that but a par on the long par-four 18th would have done the job. After a wayward drive he left himself with a relatively straightforward up-and-down from in front of the green, but he faltered at the last.The other 62s in men's major rounds were by Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele at the 2023 U.S. Open and by Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry at the 2024 PGA Championship.Herbert, who missed the cut on three of his last four Open appearances, leads by two shots from overnight leader Jackson Suber who followed his opening 65 with a solid one-under 69.
