THIS week’s Australian Masters at Metropolitan is all about experience for Bendigo young gun Lucas Herbert.
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The amateur star played a practice round with nine-time US PGA Tour winner Stuart Appleby on Tuesday and for the first two rounds of the Australian Masters he’s been grouped with Robert Allenby and Jarrod Lyle.
“Stuart (Appleby) has been around for a long time, so it was pretty cool to see how he goes about his game and how he prepares for a tournament like this,’’ Herbert said on Wednesday.
“It was nice to walk around the course and talk about golf, how he handles travelling and what he did when he was first starting out on tour.
“It was a great experience.”
Herbert expects a similar outcome from two days of playing alongside Allenby and Lyle on one of Melbourne’s famed sandbelt courses.
“You don’t get opportunities like this very often, so it should be a lot of fun,’’ Herbert said.
“I’ve met Robert and Jarrod once or twice, but never played with them.”
Playing alongside some of the biggest names in Australian golf won’t faze Herbert.
Ranked in the top 20 amateur players in the world, Herbert has high expectations of himself this week.
“I’ve been told if I finish inside the top 10 I will get into the field for the Australian Open (next week),’’ he said.
“I’d love to do that or finish even higher.
“Obviously, you go into every tournament you play wanting to win and I’d love to be amongst the leaders on the weekend.”
After struggling with the putter at last month's Asia-Pacific Amateur at Royal Melbourne, Herbert has put some extra time into his work with the flat stick.
"I'm happy with the way I'm hitting the ball, but I have had a few struggles with the putter,'' Herbert admitted.
"I've worked hard on my putting lately and now it's a matter of rolling a few in early on and getting some confidence from there."
Herbert, Allenby and Lyle tee-off at 12.35pm in Thursday’s first round.