Lucas Herbert Will Enter Irish Open Finale With One-Shot Lead

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Lucas Herbert
Lucas Herbert makes his way up the 18th fairway during day three of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet Estate in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny on July 3, 2021. (Photo by Brian Lawless PA Images via Getty Images)

Lucas Herbert will enter the final round of the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open Saturday at Mount Juliet Estate with a one-shot lead over Johannes Veerman.

The 25-year old Aussie got off to a terrific start on with four birdies and six pars on his opening 10 holes to reach 17 under. But the wire-to-wire leader struggled down the stretch, dropping shots on Nos. 11 and 14 to post 70 and settle on 15-under par.

“Solid day,” said Herbert. “Obviously conditions got pretty tricky out there and definitely tested everyone enough to get the scoring to go out a little bit.

“It was a solid bad day I guess you’d say but in some ways frustrating. I felt like I could have put some real distance between myself and the field and didn’t do that.

“I want to get to 20 under as a personal goal. So if I can do that, someone’s got to come catch me and if they do, good luck to them.

“To win the Irish Open would be really cool, whether it’s wire to wire or not. I think it would be a really cool one to put on your resumé that you’ve won the Irish Open.”

American Veerman, meanwhile, signed for a 67 with an eagle and five birdies to hit 14 under, and book a tee time with Herbert in Sunday’s final pairing.

Two further back was South African Justin Harding, who shot a low-round 65 to sit solo third on 12-under par.

Swede Rikard Karlberg (67), Italian Francesco Laporta (68) and England’s Dale Whitnell (71) were then at 11 under.

Englishmen Andrew Johnston (69) and Andy Sullivan (73) , Scots Grant Forrest (73) and Richie Ramsay (70), and Australian Jason Scrivener (70) were deadlocked on 10-under par.

Defending champion John Catlin shot even-par 72 and was 7 under par. Home favorites Graeme McDowell (70), Rory McIlroy (73), and Shane Lowry (74) were unable to make much happen on moving day.


2021 DDF Irish Open


Round-3 Leaderboard: Top-10

Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 3)
1. Lucas Herbert -15 (-2)
2. Johannes Veerman -14 (-5)
3. Justin Harding -12 (-7)
4. Dale Whitnell -11 (-1)
4. Francesco Laporta -11 (-4)
4. Rikard Karlberg -11 (-5)
7. Andy Sullivan -10 (+1)
7. Jason Scrivner -10 (-2)
7. Grant Forrest -10 (+1)
7. Richie Ramsay -10 (-2)
7. Andrew Johnston -10 (-3)

Notables

Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 3)
12. Tommy Fleetwood -9 (-4)
12. Thomas Pieters -9 (-4)
12. Richard Bland -9 (E)
21. John Catlin -7 (E)
31. Martin Kaymer -6 (+1)
35. Graeme McDowell -5 (-2)
48. Rory McIlroy -4 (+1)
57. Shane Lowry -3 (+2)
57. Nicolas Colsaerts -3 (+1)


Material from the European Tour Communications was used to compile this report.


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