May 11: Lucas Herbert scripted a grandstand finish by making an eagle on the par-five 18th hole for the second day in a row and extended his winning margin in the US$2 million International Series Japan presented by Moutai to a dominant five shots.

On Sunday at the par-71 Caledonian Golf Club in Chiba, the 29-year-old Australian won his maiden Asian Tour and International Series title. Once he moved into solo lead, he was never challenged as he closed with a seven-under-par 64 to reach 20-under for the week, five ahead of his playing partners Yuta Sugiura and Younghan Song.

Sugiura played solid golf and was bogey-free for the third time in four days, but his putter let him down in a round of 69. He was the best-placed Japanese player in the field. Song’s quest for a first win in Japan continued, but a birdie on the last helped him tie Sugiura for second place at 15-under.

American Cameron Tringale (66) rolled in a 15-foot eagle putt on the last to finish solo fourth at 14-under, one ahead of Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (65) and Japan’s Shunya Takeyasu (67).

Lucas Herbert of Australia. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour

It was a remarkable run by Herbert, who was five shots behind the leader with three holes to play in the third round, before engineering a 10-shot swing against his closest rival with two eagles in the last three holes on Saturday, followed by the 64 that included seven birdies and the eagle on the 18th.

With his wire-to-wire win, Herbert moved to the top of the Asian Tour Order of Merit, as well as The International Series Rankings. It was also his first international victory in almost two years, having won the 2023 ISPS Handa Championship, also in Japan.

The Ripper GC star, who played a full season on the Asian Tour in 2016, started the day tied for the lead at 13-under alongside Sugiura and Song. The 33-year-old Korean immediately moved ahead with an eagle on the second hole, but Herbert hunted him down with birdies on the second, fourth and fifth.

Herbert made a bogey on the par-five sixth hole, and it seemed he used up all his bad shots on that single hole as he twice flirted with the trees on the left and was left with horrible downhill lies. Even though he had another bogey coming in – at the 15th – he was rock solid throughout and shut the door on the chasing pack.

Yuta Sugiura of Japan. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour

“I was thinking about it down on the 18th green, that finish yesterday really set it up. It would have been much tougher, I think, to play the group in front, or maybe two groups in front, had I parred in and to try and come back from behind today,” said Herbert.

“Being able to tie the lead last night, and sleep thinking that I didn’t have to chase anything down today, was a big factor. And then, very happy with the way I played today, I think it was the low round of the day, so that’s always going to make it hard to beat when you start the day tied for the lead.”

The second-hand putter he found at a thrift shop in Korea last week was smoking hot again as he completed the round in just 23 putts, but Herbert also credited his new driver (a Titleist GT3 with a Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7x shaft) that he has been using to good effect this year. It has resulted in three top-10s on LIV Golf, where he is now fifth in the standings.

“I’ve played really well this year, and I think the driver was a big part of this success. So, I’ve got to thank Tom Davies, who works on my clubs. He was the one who put it in my hands. I had other thoughts of what I might be using this year and he encouraged me to give it a go. It seemed to have worked out pretty well,” said Herbert.

“The way I’ve been playing this year, it’s been building to get a win at some point. So, it’s nice to get it done here, especially in Japan, which is one of my favourite places. It’s nice to feel like some of the hard work that I put in has paid off. Holding that trophy is a pretty good feeling.”

Cameron Tringale of USA. Picture by Graham Uden/Asian Tour

Sugiura, 23 and regarded as one of Japan’s brightest young prospects, felt he could have posted a much better score if his putter had cooperated over the past four days.

“I think I played good golf for four days. This week, my putting didn’t go as well as I wanted, but I hit some good shots, so I’m looking forward to my future tournaments,” said Sugiura, who won the 2023 Dunlop Phoenix Open on Japan Golf Tour as an amateur.

“I made some good putts yesterday, so I thought today would go well, but it was difficult because I kept missing birdie chances, just like the first two days.”

Song struggled with his shot-making on the back nine, and despite finding numerous tough spots, limited the damage to just two bogeys.

“I started off really well, but I missed some putts at key moments and things didn’t go well on the back nine. However, Lucas putted really well and there’s no doubt he was the better player today,” said Song.

“I played with Lucas yesterday and today. These guys are good with their shot-making, but they’re also really good with their short games. He wasn’t making many putts yesterday, but he made a lot of putts today. I think if I work hard on my short game, I can do it as well.”

International Series Japan presented by Moutai was the third of 10 elevated events on the Asian Tour calendar that form a pathway onto the LIV Golf League. The next event in the schedule is the International Series Morocco, which will be played July 3-6.