Lucas Herbert Was Thinking About 62 on the Third Hole. Then He Nearly Made History.

Lucas Herbert didn’t just shoot a 62 on Friday at Royal Birkdale. He basically called his shot.

After an even-par 70 in the first round of The Open Championship, the Australian came out firing in Round 2. His 62 matched Sam Burns for the day’s low score and put him in the clubhouse lead. But the real story isn’t just the number on the card. It’s what was going through Herbert’s head while he was making the turn.

According to a post from Kevin Van Valkenburg on X, Herbert admitted he started thinking about shooting 62 — or better — after he stuck it to five feet on the third hole. That’s not something most players will tell you mid-round. But Herbert wasn’t done with the honesty.

He said his dad woke him up in 2009 because Chad Campbell looked like he was going to shoot 62 at the Masters. That moment stuck with him. Fast forward to Friday, and he was the one chasing history. Herbert said it felt like a full circle moment. “If one kid got woken up to see me, that would tickle me pink,” he said. “I hope some kid is disappointed I didn’t shoot 61.”

The 61 That Got Away

Herbert didn’t get that 61. But he came close enough that the memory of his dad shaking him awake as a kid probably felt pretty vivid on the back nine. He rolled in birdies. He stuffed approaches. He played like a guy who had been waiting for this stage since he was old enough to hold a club.

His 62 tied the low round of the tournament so far, and it gave him the early weekend lead. Plenty of the big names were still on the course as he finished. Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, and Tommy Fleetwood were all at 3-under with plenty of holes left. Any one of them could have gone low and knocked Herbert out of the top spot by day’s end.

But that’s not really the point right now. The point is that Herbert turned a pretty good start into something memorable by being honest about what drove him. Most guys won’t tell you they were thinking about a historic score before they even made the turn. Herbert did. And it made his round a lot more interesting than just another 62 on a leaderboard.

Whether he holds the lead or not, that moment with his dad isn’t going anywhere. And if some kid somewhere got woken up to watch Herbert’s run on Friday, that’s probably enough.