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Australia’s Lucas Herbert said he “enjoyed the struggle” en route to his breakthrough PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, staying steady through blustery, rainy conditions at Port Royal Golf Course to outlast playing partners Taylor Pendrith and Danny Lee and a late rally by Patrick Reed to secure a one-stroke win.
“I love playing when it’s really hard,” said the 25-year-old Herbert, who’s proven his grit twice before in nervy conditions on the European Tour: He captured his first title in a two-hole playoff over South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout at the 2020 Dubai Desert Classic, and he earned his second victory in wire-to-wire fashion at the Irish Open in July, carding four rounds in the 60s to win by three strokes.
“I think it makes you be that little bit better, and it just eliminates the guys who maybe aren’t as good that are hitting shots that don’t get affected by wind or rain as much,” added Herbert, who carded a 2-under 69 on Sunday to finish at 15-under 269. “I just enjoyed the struggle out there as well today. There were times where I was nearly sitting on the ground behind an umbrella and just embracing that was so much fun.”
Herbert, making his 20th start on Tour and first in Bermuda, came into the week off missed cuts in his first two starts of the season (Fortinet Championship, Sanderson Farms Championship) and was listed at +7000 to win via PointsBet Sports Book. Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick (T-30), hot off his seventh career European Tour win at the Andalucia Masters, began the week as the betting favorite at +1200, followed by Bezuidenhout (T-57) at +1700 and world No. 24 Reed, the highest-ranked player in the field, at +2000.
The victory comes with a whole lot of extras for Hebert, including his first start in the Masters, entry into multiple events including the Players Championship and PGA Championship, a two-year exemption running through the 2023-24 season and full FedExCup points (500) for the second straight year after the tournament was no longer an opposite-field event due to the cancellation of the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
“It just opens up so many doors for me,” said Herbert, who earned his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. “It’s just so exciting being able to play out here now, pick a schedule.”
A T-2 finish for New Zealand’s Lee (+15000 to start the week) also had major impact on his season status as the 31-year-old -- playing on a Minor Medical Extension -- secured his conditional Tour status and has two tournaments remaining to earn 44 FedExCup points to regain full status.
“I guess it’s very good. I have a lot more opportunity than what I had before, I think,” said Lee, who started the day three shots off the pace but moved into a tie for the lead through 11 holes before unraveling with seemingly rushed play at No. 12, leading to a double bogey, followed by bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14.
Lee rebounded with three straight birdies on Nos. 15-17, carding a final-round 71 to finished tied at 14 under with Reed.
“That’s always been my pace of play,” insisted Lee, whose lone Tour victory came at the 2015 Greenbrier Classic. “It doesn’t really matter where I’m at, I try to always -- I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing, but I try to keep it always consistent. Taking my time over a shot is not my thing.”
Reed, who started the final round nine shots off the lead, closed with a 6-under 65 to record his seventh runner-up result on Tour and his best finish since a solo fifth at the Memorial Tournament in June. The 31-year-old nine-time Tour winner pointed to a driver switch over the weekend as key, as well as a renewed sense of confidence following his battle with bilateral pneumonia in August.
“Ever since I got back from being sick, it just seemed like the offense wasn’t quite there,” said Reed, who recorded a double bogey in each of his first three rounds. “I wasn’t making enough birdies and when that happens, one loose swing here or there, it turns around, try to salvage a mediocre round. This week I definitely produced enough offense, but I need to take away some of the careless errors.”
The driver proved to be the undoing for Tour rookie Pendrith (+5000), who held the outright lead after the second and third rounds before shooting a 5-over 76 on Sunday. The 30-year-old Canadian vaulted to the top of the leaderboard on Friday with a 10-under 61, setting a new 18-hole tournament scoring record and matching the 36-hole record. He followed up with a 6-under 65 on Saturday to match the 54-hole tournament record and give himself a three-shot lead, but Pendrith lost his cushion after three straights bogeys on Nos. 6-8. An errant drive on 17 led to a double bogey and a T-5 finish at 12-under 272.
“I thought about it briefly, but driver’s probably my No. 1 strength and I had been driving it really well up until today,” said Pendrith, who’s now made four cuts in four starts this season. “Hit a couple left balls with the driver today, but at that point I was one back and if I hit a good drive I would have had 5-, 6-iron in and good look at birdie. Yeah, it was probably the worst swing of the week, the year maybe, but I wouldn’t change it.”
Stanford alum Patrick Rodgers (+4000), still chasing his first career Tour victory, carded a final-round 70 to finish solo fourth at 13-under 271 for his second top 10 (T-6, Fortinet) through three starts this season. Rodgers owns three runner-up finishes (most recently at the 2018 RSM Classic) and finished last season at No. 128 in the FedExCup standings, failing to qualify for the FEC Playoffs for the first time in his sixth season as a Tour member.
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Knous clears hurdle; Stallings, defending champ Gay make noise
Making the final start under his Major Medical Extension in Bermuda, Jim Knous (+20000) made birdie on his 72nd hole to earn enough FedExCup points to retain conditional Tour and full Korn Ferry Tour status for the remainder of the season.
The 31-year-old entered the week needing 3.516 points (solo 67th) to do so and earned five points with a 1-over 72 on Sunday to finish in a five-way tie at T-57 (1-under 283).
“The emotions were going crazy today,” said Knous, who finished T-11 at the Fortinet in his first start of the season. “I was running through all the scenarios in my head, which is exactly what you don’t want to do, but it’s hard to block those out. Once that first tee ball was in the air, it was game time, everything kind of pushed to the back in my mind, so I was just able to focus on golf. But it’s emotional now.”
Also recording an exciting finish was defending champ Brian Gay (+10000), who made the cut on the number Friday thanks to an eagle at 17 and holed out from the fairway for an eagle at 18 on Sunday (68) to finish T-12 at 10-under 274. Gay became the first player to record 100 putts or less in a tournament this season.
Scott Stallings (+6000) started the final round 14 strokes off the lead and recorded nine birdies en route to 9-under 62, the low round of the day and his lowest round in an individual stroke-play event on Tour since the 2017 Barbasol Championship. … Davis Riley (67), Curtis Thompson (70) and Vincent Whaley (72) finished T-7 at 11-under 273 -- career-best results for all three -- to earn a start in next week’s World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba.
Up next: World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
Norway’s Viktor Hovland will defend his title at El Camaleon Golf Course in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, this week at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, where world No. 7 Justin Thomas and No. 11 Brooks Koepka return to action for their first start since The CJ Cup.
Also in the field are 11 Ryder Cup players, including Tony Finau and Scottie Scheffler, and four assistant captains. World No. 14 Abraham Ancer leads a Mexican contingent as he looks to win on home soil, while No. 79 Guido Migliozzi and No. 84 Thomas Detry are among the sponsor exemptions.
Last year at El Camaleon, Hovland earned his second career Tour win after shooting all four rounds in the 60s and carding a birdie on his 72nd hole to beat Aaron Wise by one shot.
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