In what could well be his final start of 2024, Gary Hurley came up two strokes shy of the cut mark at the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, while LIV Golf’s Lucas Herbert has opened up a four-stroke lead at the halfway stage.
Hurley is entered in both the Nebank Challenge and Alfred Dunhill Championships in South Africa, but it’s unlikely that the exemption cut-off point will drop low enough to see the Waterford man make it into either field, so his two-week stint in Australia took on additional importance.
Having missed the cut on the number at last week’s Australian PGA Championship, an opening one-over round of 72 at the Victoria Course meant he simply had to shoot at least a couple-under-par on Kingston Heath in round two to see weekend action.
A bogey on the fourth made an already uphill task that much tougher, but he responded with a birdie on seven to make the turn at level-par for the day. Back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 reignited his hopes, but he couldn’t maintain the momentum and gave those shots back on 15 and 16.
A closing birdie on the par-4 18th was little more than a consolation prize, and he found himself tied for 80th after two rounds, two short of the number required.
Local favourite Lucas Herbert extended his lead to four shots at the halfway stage after producing two brilliant bursts of scoring in tricky conditions at Kingston Heath on Friday afternoon.
Three-time DP World Tour winner Herbert began the day with a slender one-shot lead following Thursday’s 63 over at Victoria Golf Club. And he continued to entertain his home crowds on day two, flying out of the blocks with an eagle and two birdies in the first three holes of his second round.
But as the wind got stronger, six successive pars followed before Herbert surrendered his first bogey of the week on the tenth, where a clutch 12-foot putt prevented further damage.
That cut his advantage to a single shot and although he got into yet more trouble at the 12th, he managed to save par from six feet to remain out in front. A hat-trick of birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th then handed him a healthy lead as he signed for a stunning 66 to reach 14-under-par at the midway mark.
“Yeah, very happy,” was Herbert’s assessment post-round. “I thought it was funny, I played pretty good yesterday, just didn’t really putt that well and then felt like I putted really well today, scrambled really well and the rest of the game was sort of off. It was like two days of polar opposites to have good scores. So yeah, it was nice for my putting to turn up when I needed it.
“I’m really proud of those last three or four holes there. 16, tee shot’s, not an easy one. 18 tee shot, not an easy one under the circumstances and I thought I handled them really, really well. So yeah, very, very nice.
“I don’t know Victoria as well, but Kingston Heath, I’ve played here so many times. Pughy (his caddie) walked the course earlier in the week and I’m almost telling him how to play this golf course after he’s done all the preparation you could possibly do.
“So yeah, feel super comfortable out here. Feel like I know a lot of lines off tees and how little shots play here and there and just a lot of, I’m going to say quirks, but lots of little local knowledge things that you need to kind of know around this course with different pins and different winds and that kind of stuff. So I feel quite comfortable that I’ve played enough here that I know most of them.”
Herbert’s nearest challenger was American Ryggs Johnston, after the rookie recovered from a slow start at Victoria Golf Club to sign for a 68 and reach 10-under.
Last week’s winner Elvis Smylie is a shot further back, alongside American pair Harry Higgs and Jordan Gumberg, Finland’s Oliver Lindell, England’s Matt Southgate and Austrian Lukas Nemecz.
This week’s event incorporates three tournaments – the men’s and women’s Australian Opens and the Australian All Abilities Championship.
In the women’s event, amateur Hyojin Yang of Korea has a one-shot lead at nine under par, while Korea’s Simon Seungmin Lee holds a six shot lead over World Number One Kipp Popert of England going into the final round of the Australian All Abilities Championship.