Herbert, who is nine shots off the leader and defending champion Brooks Koepka, started the round off smooth sailing.

He was one-under through five, thanks to a birdie on the par five third but hit a snag with back-to-back bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes.

However, he was able to limit any further damage to finish out the front nine at one-over.

He took full advantage on the par four 10^th by draining a seven foot putt for birdie to get his scorecard back on track.

Herbert then carded five-straight pars and picked up the pace on the par five 16^th with a birdie.

Now at one-under with two to play he looked to be in a safe position to see out the first round under-par.

A slightly wayward drive on the par four 17^th landed in the rough on the right of the fairway which left Herbert with a tricky shot over trees to get his ball back in play.

He managed to get to the centre of the green with his third shot, but missed the par putt by three inches.

On the 18^th Herbert's tee shot landed to the right of the fairway, leaving 139 yard to the hole.

His second shot went over the back of the green, landing in the left rear bunker, he was out cleanly, but then missed the par putt by two feet, ending the opening round of the PGA Tour event at one-over par (T46).

Fellow Australian Jason Day finished at two-under, Marc Leishman at even-par, Matt Jones one-over and Cameron Smith at two-over.

Herbert will make his start in round two tonight at 11.20PM AEST alongside Kevin Streelman and Corey Conners.

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