Armed with a Sony PlayStation and a temporary home in Chicago, rising star Lucas Herbert hopes to use the US PGA Championship as a springboard onto the lucrative American golf circuit.
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European Tour player Herbert has begun a three-month stint in the US that began with last week's World Golf Championships event in Tennessee before major starts at this week's PGA Championship in California and next month's US Open in New York.
Herbert admits his 12-week trip feels slower than usual given the US PGA Tour's COVID-19 restrictions, but the 24-year-old brought his trusty video game console and a stack of games to fill the downtime.
"I take my PlayStation everywhere I go with me and it's proving useful given how much extra time we're spending in hotel rooms," Herbert told AAP.
"I have a disc wallet full of games and right now I'm getting stuck into NHL; I'm trying to take my team into the Stanley Cup playoffs."
Herbert will make his fourth major championship start at San Francisco's TPC Harding Park.
The Bendigo native has played a US Open, a British Open and last year's PGA and is eager to test his prodigious talent again on golf's biggest stage.
"I'd love to finish in the top 30 this week," said Herbert, whose best major finish to date is a tie for 51st at the 2018 British Open.
"I haven't been able to crack into that bracket because I haven't done that in the majors I've played.
"It's an amazing opportunity to test my game against the world's best."
Herbert won the European Tour's prestigious Dubai Desert Classic in January and is now hungry to take the next step onto the US PGA Tour.
It's why he has set himself up in Chicago for the long breaks between major championship starts.
"Chicago is a great city and I've been staying with friends and practising at this course, Beverley Country Club, who have been great in letting me prepare there," he said.
"The standard of golf you have to play on the PGA Tour is another level up and I love the challenge of having to bring my absolute best.
"A a lot of my game sets up well for American golf, with driving and putting being my strengths, but there are areas I need to improve on to make it here.
"Whenever I do make it onto this tour, I want to be competitive."
Herbert will tee off in round one of the PGA Championship on Friday at 0726 AEST with club professional Judd Gibb and fellow American Mark Hubbard.
Australian Associated Press
