Without an invitation to Augusta yet Aussie Lucas Herbert knows he has to “earn one” and started that quest in style with an opening day win at the $30 million World Match Play in Texas.
Four out of five Australians at the event seized day one wins including Adam Scott, Jason Day and Min Woo Lee with Cam Davis the only one to taste defeat.
There’s more on the line for Herbert though who played his first Masters last year and is desperate to get back again having blown his chance to cement a spot in the world top 50 with a horror show at The Players Championship.
But the 27-year-old from Bendigo put that last start effort in Florida, where Herbert was 23-over par after the opening two rounds and missed the cut, well and truly behind him with a big win over Russell Henley.
Needing to progress to at least the quarter-finals to get inside the world top 50 and get to the Masters next month, Herbert was five-up after the opening nine holes before holding off the fast-finishing America to win one-up.
“Yeah, there‘s a lot of pressure on me to make the Masters and I would love to go. I’m not going to dance around that,” he said after his win.
“But it’s all in my own hands. I don’t need someone else to play well, play poorly, do whatever. It’s all in my own hands. So just trying to, yeah, focus on what I can do. I want to go out there and be attacking like I was that first nine holes and even the second nine holes.
“I don’t have an invitation in the mail for the Masters yet, I have to go and earn one. That’s not for me to defend. So I don’t want to play like I’m playing to defend anything.”
Lee, who looks set to return to Augusta had to come from behind to snatch a 1-up win over Sahith Theegala at Austin Country Club.
The West Australian made a double bogey on the 14th hole, and Theegala was one up with two to play.
But Lee nailed birdies on 17 and 18 to seize victory as he looks to gain Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the PGA Tour season if he can top Group 11 or win two pool matches.
“It‘s a marathon, isn’t it?” Lee said.
“I have been playing wonderful for the last few months, and I hope I can continue that, but I feel like I’ve just started to get into my craft and not know what shots and know what misses I have, I guess, and after you get that, I think you just need a couple good breaks, and hopefully you can hold a trophy at the end of the week.
“I feel like I‘m close-ish. I know there’s players better than me, but I know I can also hold my own ground. I hope I can get the situation again, and hopefully finish it off.”
Scott nailed a long-range final hole birdie to take down Seamus Power one-up, while Day continued his stellar form with a takedown of Canada’s Adam Svenson, winning four-up.