Lucas Herbert stressed he has not arrived back home in Australia to celebrate his recent win in Dubai after playing in Saudi last week, as he prepares for the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
Picture by GETTY IMAGES

LUCAS Herbert is eyeing more silverware at the ISPS Handa Vic Open this week, just a fortnight after winning his first European Tour title at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Herbert is from the city of Bendigo, approximately 125 miles from 13th Beach Golf Links – the host venue of the Vic Open since 2013.

The 24-year-old is looking forward to enjoying support from family and friends this week.

But Herbert insists that the champagne is on ice after his play-off victory against Christiaan Bezuidenhout at Emirates GC two weeks ago.

Herbert, who had been tipped by some pundits to be the next Australian winner in 2019, said: “I don’t turn up to any tournament just to enjoy it. You want to win every event you tee it up in.

“I’m definitely not here this week for a bit of a party with my friends.

“I’ve got next week off and then I’m playing two in a row and then I’ve got a pretty nice stretch off.

“I know in the back of my mind I’ve got some celebrating to do coming up, but right now it’s business time – and we’re going to go and do the things I need to do to play well.

“My game’s good. I played well this morning, so it’s just a case of trying to shake off a bit of jet lag from the travel in Saudi Arabia last week.

“The course is good. I’ve been here enough times to sort of know what’s going on, where they like to put all the pins and how it kind of plays.

“You get pretty much any wind direction out there, so having like a lot of experience is going to be really helpful if the weather behaves, or not, over the weekend.”

Herbert will be joined in the first two rounds by 2018 Dubai Desert Classic champion Haotong Li and three-time European Tour winner Marcus Fraser.

“I think game’s getting there, there are just little bits and pieces I need to put it together, I need to be sharper, said Haotong Li.

“Especially on this course. There’s a lot of fade shots so you have to hit keep your ball lower and hit more fairways. If you do that you’re going to have birdie chances.

“This is my first time playing in a tournament like this, but I think it’s a great idea and to grow the game and let more people realise golf can be a little bit different.

“It’s going to be an interesting week, but I’m enjoying it so far,” added the 24-year-old China pro who is looking for his third European Tour win, and his first Down Under.

Li, who broke through from the Asian Tour after winning the 2016 Volvo China Open, made his third appearance as a professional on Australian soil in 2011, and is making his Vic Open debut this week.

The ISPS Handa Vic Open sees men’s and women’s tournaments played concurrently on the same golf courses for equal prize money.

The first two rounds are played on the Beach and Creek Courses at Barwon Heads, with all the weekend’s action moving to the Beach Course.

All four days will be played played with men’s and women’s alternating groups.

The 36-hole cut sees both tournaments reduced to the top 60 and ties, with the top 35 and ties making a second cut which takes place after the third round.

The men’s event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, while the women’s event is co-sanctioned by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and Australia Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG).

•Play gets under way at 7.10pm UK time on Wednesday, February 5. To follow live scoring in round one click here.

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David Law the defending champion in the men’s event at the ground-breaking ISPS Handa Vic Open, which returns to Australia’s 13th Beach Golf Links. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SCOTLAND’S David Law is relishing the opportunity to defend a European Tour title for the first time in his career as he returns to Australia for the ISPS Handa Vic Open.

The 29-year-old produced a sensational finish last year at 13th Beach Golf Links, with an eagle on the par five 18th hole putting him one stroke ahead of runners-up Brad Kennedy and Wade Ormsby.

Returning to Barwon Heads, Law is hoping to recapture the form which saw him win a European Tour title in his rookie year after graduating from the European Challenge Tour.

Law said: “It’s good to be back and it’s a special tournament for me, it brings back great memories. It’s good to know that I can do that.

“It’s obviously a special way to win a tournament – I just need to give myself the opportunity more.

“That’s the main thing I speak about with my coach Alan McCloskey. He says I need to get my game to the stage where I’m given the opportunity to do that more often.

“I was a rookie on tour and winning so soon after getting my card was quite a big change to my lifestyle and my mindset.

“I came out here really just wanting to compete and then all of a sudden I had won, it was quite a big change.

“It was good experience going to new courses and tournaments that I had never been to before,” said Law reflecting on his first year on Tour.

“I don’t think people understand how tough that is.

“Some people take to it straight away, but I played on the Challenge Tour for five, six years, I think.

“So I was used to going back to the same places. I find that aspect of it quite tough – it’s been up and down, but it’s good.

Law was reasonably confident of his chances of making a good defence Down Under this week saying his game was “pretty good” in the early weeks of 2020, even if his results have not been what he has been hoping for.

“I’m kind of showing bits of form,” said the pro who claimed the Scottish Amateur Championship twice in 2009 and 2011, having also claimed the double by winning the Scottish Boys in the first of those successful seasons.

“Results-wise hasn’t been great,” added Law. “I think I’ve made four of the six cuts, but I haven’t done particularly well result-wise.

“I’m not really scoring all that great, but I think the form is actually pretty good. I’m not far away from playing well.”

Law will play the first two rounds in the company of one of last year’s runners-up in Ormsby, who recently won the reschedule Hong Kong Open.

DAVID LAW CLAIMS MAIDEN WIN AT VIC OPEN

They will be joined by Kiwi Ryan Fox, who won the 2019 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit.

The ISPS Handa Vic Open sees men’s and women’s tournaments played concurrently on the same golf courses at 13th Beach Golf Links for equal prize money.

The first two rounds are played on the Beach and Creek courses before play returns to the Beach course for the weekend.

A 36-hole cut will see both fields reduced to the top 60 and ties, and a further cut after the third round reduces each field to 35 and ties.

All rounds are played in alternating men’s and women’s groups.

The men’s event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, while the women’s event is co-sanctioned by the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and Australian Ladies Professional Golf (ALPG).

•To follow David Law in the first round click here for live scoring click here.

2019 ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner Ryan Fox, from New Zealand

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