Lucas Herbert was the perfect archetype for this week’s Bermuda Championship field. Good player, decent world rankings, solid career to date, but no wins on the PGA Tour. He is no longer the perfect archetype for this field because he is no longer without a win on the PGA Tour. He made sure of that by beating Patrick Reed and Danny Lee by one Sunday at his 20th tour start.
Herbert shot a 2-under 69 on Sunday to get to 15 under for the week and barely stay away from Reed and Lee in sticky weather and the last lap that was expected on the day due to the expected woolly weather . His 2 below number doesn’t sound like great, but it was almost three ahead of the field average and it was enough to stop Reed, who shot 65, and Lee, who had a wild second nine with a doubles, two bogeys and three birdies his last seven holes.
“I had the feeling that I had sharpened really well early on and had the right attitude for the day that it would not be easy,” said Herbert. “I don’t think we met riders on the range because (we) just couldn’t make it, it was just pointless so you just knew it was going to be one of those days when you really, really had to fight hard. Under par would be a great result. I couldn’t expect to finish 20 under par or so, you just had to drag your way through. Yeah, there would be some holes where it went to die a bit and you would have a chance to give just had to take your chances with them when you got them. “
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The Australian Herbert, who landed at number 57 in the official golf world rankings, was not flawless in the last four days in windy and at times uncomfortable weather in Bermuda, but he came up and down 27 times a week in 21 of his days (including six of eight in the finals), which finished fourth in the field and are extremely useful if you want to win a Tour event in these conditions.
For him, the win is his second this year, as he won the Irish Open on the European Tour in July. It will put him in the top 50 official golf rankings, and according to the Golf Channel, it means that alongside Jason Day, Adam Scott, Cam Smith and Aaron Baddeley, he was the only Australian to win a PGA Tour aged 25 or younger. Event of the last two decades.
It also puts him in the Masters for the first time in his career, and puts him well on the way to potentially reaching the Tour championship in 2022, just a year after playing his postseason golf in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. The archetype for the field of this event has grown into a first-time PGA Tour champion and should be a very fun year 2022.
“I only had two minutes to think about it because I was trying to get it so far out of my head, but it just opens so many doors for me,” said Herbert. “It’s just so exciting to be able to play here now and choose a schedule. It was tough for the guys from the Korn Ferry Finals and the regular season category earlier this year, we don’t have many starts. Yeah, we’re kind of out this fight and being able to take part in some of these really big events, I’m so excited about it. ” Grade: A +
Here are the remaining grades for the Bermuda Championship.
Patrick Reed (T2): Reed was amazing on Sunday, and his 65 was the second best lap of the day after Scott Stallings 62. Conditions were the kind he loves, where he said he can get off a driving range swing and shape some golf shots. He just had too much ground to go into the final lap after his first three good (but not outstanding) laps of 68-69-68.
“I’ve had eight penalty shots all week and the big goal that came in today was no penalty, no doubles and to give you chances, look for birdie,” Reed said. “I felt like I did really well today and mastered the conditions. The putter started for me.”
This is a good result for the number 24 golfer in the world – even in a weaker field – after some effort this summer and fall, and also his first top 10 since the memorial in June.
“I think at this tournament in general I had problems … when I come back from illness … creates an insult,” he said. “I hit the ball really well and did a couple of putts, but here are just burning edges on a 50/50 putt that can get a round going or an up and down or not quite an up and down when I should. It’s something that was a bit soft because I had so much time on the actual game side.
“So coming out this week and doing a lot of offensive definitely gives me the confidence that we’re back playing and are now more in game mode than so much tech and work mode.” Note: A
Patrick Rodgers (4th): The mega-talent Rodgers has had just four top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour since early 2019, and two of those came in at his last three events, including Bermuda this week. He’s never been particularly spectacular this week, except for a Friday 64, but he just stuck in the mix with only one blemish on each lap (three bogeys and one double). This is good news for someone with a great pedigree and apparently enough play to compete in legitimate PGA Tour events. It now has some momentum until 2022. Note: A
Matt Fitzpatrick (T30): Fitzpatrick faded when he got home thinking he was going to thrive, but he gave us the quote from the week after Round 1.
“It’s the hardest wind I’ve ever played in,” he said on Thursday. “You see winds like that, but you don’t usually play in them. That was the toughest wind I’ve ever played in normal tee, but anyway, I tore it up and it got 245. That’s – I think my season average was 295 last year. Just shows you how strong he is.”
That wasn’t a bad result for him, but since one of the two golfers in the field is ranked in the OWGR Top 50 this week, I was looking for something more. Still, his last three finishes – T20, 1st, T30 – are pretty solid. Grade B-