LIV Golfer Lucas Herbert Missed 9 Of 17 Major Cuts—Now He Just Shot A 28 On The Open Front Nine

Lucas Herbert lit up Royal Birkdale on Friday morning, carding a six‑under‑par 28 on the front nine to grab the early lead at The Open Championship in Southport, and turning the LIV Golf outsider into the name everyone suddenly needed to know.

The Australian arrived at this 154th Open with a pretty modest record in golf's biggest events. Herbert, 30, has played in 17 majors and missed the cut in nine of them, making the top 25 only once with a tie for 13th at the 2024 PGA Championship. He did not even play the weekend at The Open last year, which is partly why his outrageous start at Royal Birkdale has raised so many eyebrows.

LIV Golfer Lucas Herbert Turns The Open Narrative On Its Head

Herbert is no rookie. He turned professional in 2015 and carved out his reputation far from the roar of Augusta or the scrutiny of the US Open. From 2020 to 2023 he picked off three titles on the DP World Tour and added a PGA Tour victory at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, the sort of résumé that quietly commands respect without ever really forcing its way into the mainstream.

The move that put him in the headlines, at least within golf, came in 2024 when he signed for LIV Golf and joined the all‑Australian Ripper GC team. To recall, that was a period when every defection to the Saudi‑backed circuit was framed as a referendum on golf's future. Herbert's name was on those lists, but rarely at the top. He was seen more as a solid capture than a seismic one.

Those who have followed LIV closely, though, will not be entirely stunned by what he is doing at The Open. In May this year Herbert collected his first LIV title at LIV Golf Virginia, a breakthrough win on the new circuit. In nine LIV events this season he has four other top‑10 finishes, a remarkably consistent run that suggested his game was trending sharply in the right direction even if most major‑only fans barely noticed.

That is the crux of Friday's shock. On the one hand you have a player who has quietly become one of LIV's steadier performers. On the other, you have his major record, which, bluntly, has been rough. Nine missed cuts out of 17 tries is not a blip, it is a pattern. Until this week, Herbert's relationship with golf's four biggest tournaments could be summed up as brief, frustrating and largely forgettable.

The contrast made his front‑nine charge feel almost surreal. A 28 at any major venue is mad. A 28 around Royal Birkdale, which has humbled far bigger names, is the kind of number that makes seasoned fans double‑check the leaderboard to see if there has been a scoring error.

Royal Birkdale Stunned By Lucas Herbert's Front‑Nine 28

Spectators at the course on Friday watched Herbert stride the 13th tee in a mood that looked closer to a casual hit‑and‑giggle than a pressure‑cooker major. Photographs from Royal Birkdale show him chatting with his caddie, Nick Pugh, during his second round, the pair appearing notably relaxed given the size of the stage and the volatility of links golf.

The Open's organisers have not yet issued detailed round comments on Herbert's play, beyond the rolling leaderboard updates, but the numbers alone tell the story. A six‑under outward half thrust him past a crowded field of stars and put his name at the top of the championship on day two. It is early, of course, but it is also exactly the sort of explosive start that can rewrite how a player is perceived almost overnight.

In case you missed it while sleeping through the UK morning, many fans did what golf fans always do when an unfamiliar name hits the front at a major. They asked: who on earth is this guy? For followers of the traditional tours, the answer is layered. He is a former DP World Tour winner, a Bermuda champion, an Aussie who has been grinding away on multiple circuits for nearly a decade. For those steeped in LIV's weekly show, he is something slightly different, a recent winner and one of the circuit's form players.

There is also the simple human side. For a golfer with Herbert's major history, arriving at The Open carries baggage. Another missed cut would have been filed under 'more of the same.' Instead, he is doing something that forces you to rethink all those early exits. Was he always this good and just uncomfortable under the old rhythms of major weeks, or has the LIV schedule genuinely freed him up to play his best stuff now? That question will hang over the rest of his championship.

What is not in doubt is the significance of this run to his LIV standing. Within that ecosystem, where team identities like Ripper GC are still being built, a player leading The Open is priceless marketing. It offers the league a narrative it badly wants, that its golfers are not just collecting cheques but contending at the very top level. Herbert's performance will be cited by LIV's defenders whether he wins, contends or fades over the weekend.