Lucas Herbert uses birdie spree to take lead at Fortinet

 

[September 15, 2023]  Lucas Herbert ripped off six birdies in a row to turn in a 9-under 63 and establish a two-shot lead after one round of the Fortinet Championship on Thursday in Napa, Calif.

The Australian played the back nine of Silverado Resort's North Course in 7-under 30 to set the pace. S.H. Kim of South Korea (7-under 65) had an eagle, five birdies and no bogeys to grab second place.

Former major champion Jason Dufner was part of a tie for third at 6-under 66 with Kelly Kraft, Zac Blair, Mark Hubbard, England's Harry Hall and South Korea's Sung Kang.

The Fortinet Championship is the first of seven events in the newly designed "FedEx Cup Fall" series. Players need to finish the fall in the top 125 of the points standings to retain full eligibility for the 2024 season. The top 50 players from this summer's FedEx Cup playoffs are already locked in.

Herbert played the front nine in 2 under before birdieing the par-4 10th hole, draining a putt of nearly 25 feet. His two-putt birdie at the par-5 12th launched the run of six straight. He stuck his approach at No. 13 to 2 1/2 feet, and he rolled in his last birdie of the day at the par-3 17th from 16 feet.

Herbert is playing his first tournament since The Open Championship in July. He said part of that had to do with where he was mentally this summer.

"Golf's been getting me down pretty hard this year," Herbert said. "It was just a tough stretch there where I had a lot going on both in my life and on the golf course as well. Yeah, I missed the cut at The Open, I didn't really want to think about golf or talk about golf for about a good month there, just needed to get away from the game and refresh everything."

Kim holed out for eagle at the par-4 14th from 106 yards. His wedge shot landed past the hole and spun back several feet to drop in the cup.

Dufner recovered from an opening bogey and got eight birdies to drop, four on each nine, while making just one bogey the rest of the way. He entered the week a distant No. 171 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings.

"I've been working pretty hard and pretty focused and determined with where I want to go with my game, but I don't have the best of results for the last couple years, so you wonder is this going to click or is this going to be something that falls flat.

"But today was nice. The weather was perfect, that helps a little bit, and it was nice to just get out there and make some birdies and get off to a good start."

Justin Thomas opened the tournament with a 3-under 69. Thomas is not only tuning up for the Ryder Cup later this month near Rome, but he also is vying for FedEx Cup Fall points.

He is not at risk of losing his tour card, as he is exempt through 2027 after winning the 2022 PGA Championship, but he needs to finish the fall series in the top 60 in points in order to qualify for two winter signature events: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.

Thomas carded four birdies and one bogey on Thursday.

"I enjoyed it and I was very engaged and focused on what I was doing, I just wasn't exactly doing it how I wanted to," Thomas said.

Just behind Thomas was Max Homa, the two-time defending champion and the only other player in the field who will go on to play in the Ryder Cup. Homa overcame an early double bogey to post a 2-under 70.

--Field Level Media

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