Aussie recovers from 'worst ever shot' on first extra hole to win with a birdie at the second attempt
Sunday 26 January 2020 14:38, UK
Lucas Herbert is a winner on the European Tour for the first time after he beat Christiaan Bezuidenhout on the second play-off hole at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Herbert and Bezuidenhout were two of only four players to break 70 on a windswept final day at the Emirates GC, both posting four-under 68s which set a clubhouse target at nine under which none of the later starters could match.
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau gave himself a great chance to pick up back-to-back wins as he got to nine under with four to play, but the American bogeyed the final four holes to slide into a tie for eighth place.
After the top two finished two clear of the field, Bezuidenhout then looked odds-on favourite to have his name etched on the famous trophy for the first time when Herbert, boldly going for the 18th green in two with a fairway wood, carved his second into the water - describing the shot as "maybe the worst I've ever hit" to his caddie.
Bezhuidenhout had already laid up and clipped a conservative third to 25 feet, and Herbert regained his composure to hit a superb fourth from the drop zone which left him a tap-in for par, and the South African's putt for the win burned the left edge of the hole.
The reprieve inspired Herbert to launch one of the biggest drives of the week down the 18th fairway, while Bezhuidenhout also found the short grass from the tee and drilled a fairway-wood over the water, over the green and up against the grandstands.
Herbert then atoned for his earlier mistake with a sweet long-iron to the heart of the green, and Bezuidenhout's tricky pitch from the lush rough lacked the pace to threaten the hole and, after Herbert lagged to a couple of feet, Bezuidenhout's birdie putt was again a fraction off target.
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Herbert tapped in to spark wild celebrations, the 24-year-old admitting afterwards that he was looking forward to heading home and "getting into a bottle of scotch" with a few mates!
The consolation for Bezhuidenhout was a sizeable cheque for finishing runner-up, his best finish since claiming his maiden win on Tour at Valderrama last June, and his compatriot Dean Burmester shared third with England's Tom Lewis (74) and Spain's Adri Arnaus (70).
Overnight leader Ashun Wu struggled to adapt to the blustery conditions, although he did make a steady start with six opening pars and a birdie at the seventh before his challenge started to unravel when he bogeyed the eighth.
Wu got into huge trouble at the 10th and ran-up a double-bogey seven, and the deflated Chinese star dropped further shots at three of the next five holes as he crashed to a 77 - 10 shots more than the third round - which saw him slip into a tie for sixth with Kurt Kitayama.
Anyone expecting a significant charge from one of the big names in the hunt were disappointed, with the likes of DeChambeau, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood and halfway-leader Eddie Pepperell all fading on the final day.
DeChambeau's horror finish added up to a 76, but he and Pepperell showed no signs of animosity despite the Englishman's criticism of the American on social media, and Pepperell also closed with an erratic 76 to finish on four under along with Fleetwood (75) and Lowry (74).
