[Photo: Getty images]

After a massive celebration for his NSW Open victory last week, LIV Golf star Lucas Herbert has targeted the Australian PGA and Open as a launchpad back to the major championships next year.

Herbert captured his first official worldwide win in 19 months at last week’s NSW Open at Murray Downs Golf and Country Club, where he defeated Cameron Smith and Corey Lamb to lift the Kel Nagle Cup.

The 28-year-old drove back to his hometown of Bendigo and celebrated at his beloved Tysons Reef Hotel, where he said the bar tab nudged $1,000 between a few close mates. “My favourite pub in Bendigo, I texted them before I had the trophy in the hands telling them to stay open tonight and it was pretty special,” Herbert said Wednesday at the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland. “It was the first time I’d won and been back in Bendigo that night. It was a pretty cool evening. Not a lot of recollection at the end of it, but I’ve been telling everyone I’ve celebrated appropriately.”

Now it’s back to business, where Herbert is among the favourites to win the Australian PGA in a field that includes Smith, former world No.1 Jason Day, Cameron Davis and Marc Leishman.

“Obviously (I have) a good chunk of confidence coming off last week,” Herbert, who won three DP World Tour titles and one PGA Tour event before joining LIV Golf this year, said. “Didn’t really feel like my game was in the best spot and struggled there a little bit at times, but to still be able to come out and win gives me a lot of confidence that if I do put some work in and play a little better this week, you don’t how good the results can be. It’s very exciting.

Heavy rain has lashed Royal Queensland and is forecast to continue when the tournament begins Thursday. Herbert is paired with Day and Smith a supergroup off No.10 at 6.10am Queensland time. “Coming to this week, it’s obviously quite wet out there, so be a slightly different challenge than a dry Murray Downs, but it should be good fun.”

Next year, Herbert said he would make a real effort to qualify for golf’s four majors. LIV Golf does not receive world ranking points and Herbert’s number has slipped beneath the line required to get into the major championships.

But he has shown pedigree at golf’s four biggest events, recording top-15 finishes at the Open Championship and PGA Championship in 2022 as well as a T–43 in the PGA at Valhalla this year. However, the PGA was the only major he played in 2024.

“We’ve got 17 (tournament) commitments there, 14 on the LIV schedule and then three International (Series) events,” Herbert said. “The majors, I want to qualify for those.”

Herbert sits second on the Australian order of merit after his NSW Open win. If he can top the list having committed to three more events this Australian summer, he could receive a US Open start given to Nno.1 on the final order of merit. Next week, at the Australian Open, the top-three finishers are given start’s to the Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

“I know there’s an avenue through next week with the Australian Open and I believe there’s some exemptions there as well and then you’ve got the 36-hole qualifiers (for the US Open and Open) as well, so I’ll be doing everything I can to try and give myself a good chance to qualify for those because they are still pretty important in my life,” Herbert said.

“The majors are important and I would love to play those. I think when it boiled down to it the impact of playing in those major championships as well, winning them, playing well, having success ultimately had a big impact on Australian golf. I look at the impact Cam’s had from winning The Open Championship in 2022. It feels like golf has not been in a position this good in a long time. We’ve got so many people playing the game. You look at events like LIV Adelaide last year with how many people are there. You look at the buzz around these two weeks, how much it means in Australia. I look at driving ranges around the country, they’re all packed at various random times throughout the day. It seems like golf is thriving incredibly in Australia and us playing well in those major championships ultimately has that impact on Australia.”