An American named after a Lethal Weapon character stands between Aussies and Australian Open title
By Peter Ryan
Lucas Herbert admitted his desperation to win the national title may have caused him to tighten up in the third round of the Australian Open as he shot even par on a drenched Kingston Heath to allow his opponents back into the contest after starting the weekend with a four-shot lead.
He will enter the final day sharing the lead with American Ryggs Johnston, a 24-year-old hunter from Montana who was named after Mel Gibson’s character from the movie Lethal Weapon, at 14-under par.
Lucas Herbert shares the leads as the Australian Open enters the final dayCredit: Getty Images
In the women’s tournament, West Australian star Hannah Green blew her lead with a double bogey at the 17th when she took two shots to exit a bunker after making seven birdies between seven and 14 to hit the front.
Green, who won the 2019 Women’s PGA Championship, will be in a battle with Korean legend Jiyai Shin, who leads by two shots after making birdie at the last two holes. Defending champion Ashleigh Buhai is 10 under and four shots off the lead, while young Australian Justice Bosio fell away on the back nine to sit at eight under.
Herbert was flat after failing to extend the four-shot lead he held overnight at Kingston Heath, with just three strokes separating the top-11 male players with Elvis Smylie in contention to back up his Australian PGA title at 12-under par alongside defending champion Joaquin Niemann and Asia Pacific amateur champion Jasper Stubbs.
Popular Victorian Marc Leishman and another Asia Pacific amateur winner Harrison Crowe are the other Australian men in contention, a stroke back on 11 under.
“I just let a few more people back in the tournament but still leading, still where I want to be so it is a good result from a frustrating day,” Herbert said.
“I had some chances but I just didn’t take them like I did in the last couple of days ... it probably got more frustrating because I really want to win this.
“It looked so easy for Ryggs, who probably doesn’t care as much about the Australian Open as I do, with no disrespect to him. It just means so much being my home national open.”
Ryggs, who can’t remember the last time he won a four-day tournament, said it would be huge for his career if he won, but he understood Herbert’s sentiment. Johnston, a skinny, freckled American with a swing as smooth as Smylie’s hit 13 birdies in his first 27 holes at Kingston Heath, having never played at the course. A double bogey at 14 was his only blemish for the day.
A bad bunker shot cost Hannah Green the lead as she battles to win the national titleCredit: Getty Images
“It just kind of happened, but I will take it,” Johnston said. “I’m trying to keep as much pressure off myself as I can.”
Min Woo Lee is out of contention at even par, while Cam Smith had his worst round this summer hitting four over par to slip further behind at -2. At one point the popular drawcard said to himself, “I can’t do anything right today” after his tee shot into the par-three eighth (his 17th hole for the day) fell short.
Leishman, a LIV Golf teammate of Smith, said he doubted whether suddenly playing back-to-back tournaments in a more hectic schedule was affecting Smith’s performance after the Queenslander went 25 holes without a birdie.
Meanwhile, Leishman stayed focused to record four under par, keeping his hopes alive with players also eyeing off a top three finish that gives them automatic entry into the British Open.
“I haven’t managed to win one this year, but the signs have been really good,” Leishman said. “I am just trying to be present. That is the big thing for me this week, not trying to think about Sunday afternoon and not trying to finish.”
Smylie shook off controversy about the pace he plays overcoming a rough patch at eight and nine when he dropped three shots with what he described as “two poor swings”. He said he was not putting too much emphasis with how quickly he played.
“I felt like I did a really good job today at making sure that I was always the first person to walk off the tee box and I did a good job with my pace today,” he said.
The emerging star is beginning to get a cult following with a spectator dressed as Elvis Presley sighted at the par three 15th. “It’s pretty cool seeing that stuff. That was one of the highlights of the day beside the golf,” Smylie said.
Green knows the women’s title she desperately craves will be difficult to win, but she is confident she can continue her good form after describing herself as being on autopilot when rattling off birdies.
She said the support she is receiving is lifting her as the toll of playing the tournament at the end of the LPGA remains real. She was surprised at her mistake in the bunker on the 17th hole but took her medicine and then scored a birdie on the last.
“It didn’t think I was doing anything too spectacular but I just managed to put it in the right spots and read the greens correctly,” Green said.
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Michael Miller missed the cut.
His score of eight over after two rounds saw him finish in the last dozen in the Australian Open field with a two-day score of 141 needed to play on the weekend.
But his performance on Thursday and Friday was arguably as good as the leading pack given his never-to-be-repeated preparation for the Australian Open.
The New York-based 32-year-old was in an aeroplane when the wild storm hit Melbourne the day before the tournament began.
Michael Miller of the United States.Credit: Getty Images
He had spent 26 of the previous 30 hours in the air when he finally arrived to Melbourne airport at 11pm, just 13 hours before he was due to hit off in his second Australian Open.
“I didn’t bring a travel bag. I brought a backpack and four pairs of clothes and my toiletries and that is it,” Miller said after his whirlwind tour finished with a par on the 18th at Kingston Heath to complete his second round in even par. His tournament was over in barely 36 hours.
He remembered to pack his golf clubs as well, of course, after receiving a phone call telling him he had landed the final spot in the open just after 3pm in New York on Monday. He was told to get to the airport in just over an hour and he would arrive in Melbourne on Wednesday morning. The only problem was he lived about an hour and a half from New York’s JFK airport.
An alternative plan saw him on a flight to Singapore from JFK then to Melbourne to arrive at 4.30pm Wednesday afternoon if everything went smoothly.
“Of course it didn’t,” Miller said.
Delays at JFK then Singapore had him on edge enough that he couldn’t sleep at all on the New York to Singapore leg and then was awake through the night after arriving in Melbourne.
Miller is no mug. He has played in two US Opens and finished 22nd in the Australian Open in 2017 but the winds of fate were blowing hard in his face when he finally took the driver to tee off on the 10th (his first hole) at Victoria Golf Club at 1.29pm on Thursday.
“I got off to a sluggish start with a double bogey on the first hole from the middle of the fairway,” he said.
Miller then scraped his way back to par after 11 holes. He was in the hunt. But then his body said no more.
“I had absolutely nothing. In the last six or seven eight holes I was just fried. I was a zombie,” he said. “The guys in the group were courteous. I don’t think I would have been as courteous to myself. I was hitting it everywhere.”
He had a double bogey on the 12th, then four bogeys in a row before finishing with a double-bogey and a score of eight over par. He had been rudely awoken as he dreamed of a miracle.
“It was a long shot for me to even make the cut let alone winning,” Miller said.
But he is, like most golfers, an eternal optimist so a wry smile appeared at the start of every sentence.
And he had reason to do so as avid golf fans through the world had paid for his flight by the time he landed after golf writer Ryan French put a shout-out through his widely followed social media channels. People lobbed $2300 in dribs and drabs into his Venmo account.
“People love golf and I love golf so they are willing to help out a guy they have no idea about,” Miller said.
Until now.
Invited to play in next week’s Victorian PGA, he doubts he will be able to stay so expects to be back on a plane on Sunday, the weather likely to limit any hopes of sightseeing.
And to think AFL clubs complain about travel.
“I faded. I would have liked one more day and then start the tournament, but it is what it is.”