19 Aug 2021 | Professional golf |

Aussies on Tour: Herbert joins Korn Ferry Tour Finals frenzy

by PGA of Australia

Lucas Herbert vies for a PGA Tour card, while Brett Drewitt secured his.

By Tony Webeck

The lure of a PGA Tour card has enticed Victorian Lucas Herbert to contest the three-tournament Korn Ferry Tour Finals starting in Boise, Idaho this week.

Currently No.52 in the world, Herbert is the third-highest ranked player in the field for the Albertsons Boise Open behind only South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Scotland’s Robert Macintyre.

Recording his second European Tour victory last month at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Herbert’s status in Europe is safe through until the end of the 2023 season, providing the scheduling freedom to chase a regular place on the PGA Tour.

The 25-year-old has already spent the majority of 2021 in the US, featuring in six regular Tour events, two World Golf Championships along with the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island.

With top-20 finishes at The Memorial and the Travelers Championship Herbert is eligible to contest the Korn Ferry Tour Finals by virtue of accruing the equivalent FedEx Cup points of those who finished 126-200 on the points list.

Joining Herbert this week are former PGA Tour winners Greg Chalmers (winner of the 2005 Boise Open) and Aaron Baddeley along with Curtis Luck, Rhein Gibson and Brett Drewitt.

While the others are seeking to snare one of the 25 Tour cards awarded to the highest finishers in the three-event finals points race, Drewitt is seeking to improve the status of the PGA Tour promotion he earned on Sunday.

Drewitt finished 24th on the points list at the end of the regular season to earn a return to the PGA Tour and is now chasing a first-place finish in the finals that brings with it a start at next season’s PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

A strong contingent of eight Aussies will tee it up in the year’s final major, the AIG Women’s Open, from Thursday afternoon AEST at Carnoustie Golf Links and there are six Australians who have qualified for the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Northern Trust at Liberty National.

With the top 70 in the FedEx Cup to advance to the BMW Championship both Jason Day (No.110) and Adam Scott (No.82) need a good result to extend their seasons, both bolstered by having won this event in 2015 and 2013 respectively.

Matt Jones (No.39), Cam Davis (No.36) and Marc Leishman (No.33) all have work to do to play their way into the top-30 who will contest the Tour Championship but Cameron Smith (No.16) is well positioned to make a charge towards the $US15 million awarded to the FedEx Cup champion.

The Japan Golf Tour resumes after their summer hiatus at the Sega Sammy Cup this week, four Aussies are in Prague for the D+D Real Czech Masters and the first stage of LPGA Tour Qualifying School commences in California where amateurs Grace Kim, Emily Mahar, Kirsty Hodgkins and rookies Doey Choi and Stephanie Bunque will seek to play their way onto a main tour.

Round 1 tee times AEST

LPGA Tour

AIG Women’s Open

Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland

3.41pm                Kirsten Rudgeley (a), Lee-Anne Pace, Luna Sobron Galmes

4.25pm                Hannah Green, Amy Olson, Moriya Jutanugarn

4.36pm                Minjee Lee, So Yeon Ryu, Atthaya Thitikul

4.58pm                Lydia Ko, Ayaka Furue, Jennifer Kupcho

6.53pm                Su Oh, Brittany Lincicome, Alice Hewson

7.26pm                Steph Kyriacou, Kristen Gillman, Ursula Wikstrom

11.33pm              Katherine Kirk, Lucie Malchirand, Maha Haddioui

12.17am              Sarah Kemp, Manon de Roey, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras

12.28am              Whitney Hillier, Marissa Steen, Prima Thammaraks

Defending champion: Sophia Popov

Past Aussie winners: Corinne Dibnah (1988), Karen Lunn (1993), Karrie Webb, 1995, 1997, 2002)

Top Aussie prediction: Hannah Green

TV schedule: Live 8pm-3am Thursday, Friday; Live 10.30pm-4am Saturday; Live 10pm-4am Sunday on Fox Sports 505

PGA TOUR

The Northern Trust

Liberty National GC, Jersey City, New Jersey

10.04pm              Marc Leishman, Charley Hoffman, KH Lee

10.04pm*            Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Brooks Koepka

10.59pm              Jason Day, Pat Perez, Matthew NeSmith

2am*                    Adam Scott, Harry Higgs, Wyndham Clark

2.33am*              Matt Jones, Lucas Glover, Sergio Garcia 

2.44am*              Cam Davis, Brian Harman, Carlos Ortiz

Defending champion: Dustin Johnson

Past Aussie winners: Bruce Crampton (1970), David Graham (1976), Wayne Grady (1989), Adam Scott (2013), Jason Day (2015)

Top Aussie prediction: Adam Scott

TV schedule: Live 4am-8am Friday, Saturday; Live 3am-8.30am Sunday; Live 2am-8am Monday on Fox Sports 503

European Tour

D+D Real Czech Masters

Albatross Golf Resort, Prague, Czech Republic

5.58pm                Jake McLeod, Hugo Leon, Taehee Lee

5.58pm*              Deyen Lawson, Matyas Zapletal, Ajeetesh Sandhu

6.20pm*              Josh Geary, Nicolai Von Dellingshausen, Pavol Mach

9.10pm                Maverick Antcliff, Louis De Jager, Dave Coupland

9.43pm                Ryan Fox, Sam Horsfield, Johannes Veerman

9.43pm*              Bryden Macpherson, Philip Eriksson, Liam Robinson

Defending champion: Thomas Pieters (2019)

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Bryden Macpherson

TV schedule: Live 9pm-2am Thursday, Friday; Live 10.30pm-2am Saturday; Live 9pm-1.30am Sunday on Fox Sports 503

Japan Golf Tour

Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup

The North Country Golf Club, Hokkaido

8.55am*              Dylan Perry, Ryuichi Oiwa, Kunihiro Kamii

9.20am                David Bransdon, Tadahiro Takayama, Taiko Nishiyama

9.30am                Andrew Evans, Hirotaro Naito, Fumihiro Ebine

12.25pm*            Scott Strange, Riki Kawamoto (a), Takuya Higa

12.30pm              Todd Sinnott, Taisei Shimizu, Daisuke Yasumoto

12.50pm              Anthony Quayle, Toshinori Muto, Taihei Sato

Defending champion: Ryo Ishikawa (2019)

Past Aussie winners: Brad Kennedy (2018)

Top Aussie prediction: Dylan Perry

Korn Ferry Tour

Albertsons Boise Open

Hillcrest CC, Boise, Idaho

12.36am              Brett Drewitt, Tom Lewis, Bronson Burgoon

12.47am              Rhein Gibson, Jimmy Stanger, Josh Teater

12.58am*            Aaron Baddeley, Charlie Saxon, Wes Roach

1.20am                Curtis Luck, Stephen Franken, Matthias Schwab

1.20am*              Greg Chalmers, Patrick Fishburn, William McGirt

4.30am*              Danny Lee, Ollie Schniederjans, Braden Thornberry

4.41am*              Lucas Herbert, Callum Tarren, Vince India

Defending champion: Stephen Jaeger

Past Aussie winners: Greg Chalmers (2005)

Top Aussie prediction: Lucas Herbert

TV schedule: Live 8am-10am Friday, Saturday; Live 9am-11am Sunday, Monday on Fox Sports 503

Challenge Tour

Round 2 tee times

Sydbank Esbjerg Challenge

Esbjerg Golfklub, Esbjerg, Denmark

5.30pm                Blake Windred, Jarand Ekeland Arnoy, Franck Daux

Defending champion: Inaugural event

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: Blake Windred

Champions Tour

Boeing Classic

The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge, Snoqualmie, Washington

Australasians in the field: Steven Alker, Robert Allenby, Stephen Leaney, David McKenzie, Rod Pampling, John Senden

Defending champion: Brandt Jobe (2019)

Past Aussie winners: Nil

Top Aussie prediction: David McKenzie

TV schedule: 12pm-1.30pm Saturday on Fox Sports 503; Live 7am-8am Sunday on Fox Sports 507; Live 7am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 505

LPGA Qualifying School

Rancho Mirage, California

12.15am              Wenyung Keh (Shadow Ridge)

12.15am*            Julianne Alvarez (Shadow Ridge)

12.35am*            Amelia Garvey (Dinah Shore)

12.55am              Laura Hoskin (Pete Dye)

12.55am*            Munchin Keh (Pete Dye)

1.25am*              Stephanie Bunque (Pete Dye)

1.35am*              Doey Choi (Dinah Shore)

4.50am                Emily Mahar (a) (Shadow Ridge)

5.20am                Kirsty Hodgkins (a) (Shadow Ridge)

5.20am*              Jess Whitting (Dinah Shore)

5.40am*              Grace Kim (a) (Dinah Shore)

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