Herbert defeats Finau in opening round at WGC Match Play | Video

Herbert secured the match with a birdie on the 15th as he was four-up with three holes still to play.

Not once during the opening round at Austin Country Club did Herbert let his opponent gain the upper hand.

Herbert made three-straight birdies to take an early two-up lead through five before Finau dug deep to square the scores back to even through seven.

However, Finau's resurgence was short lived as he then made a bogey on the eighth with Herbert taking a birdie - the lead was back in the Aussie's grip.

Herbert was one-up at the turn and continued to put the pressure on with more birdies to see him at three-up through 14.

On the par-four 15th Herbert set himself up with a 12ft putt for birdie which he rolled in to seal the match.

Herbert, who was drawn into group seven, will now go head-to-head against Olympic gold medallist and world number nine Xander Schauffele in the early hours of Friday morning AEDT.

Schauffele will also head into the match on a high note after defeating Japan's Takumi Kanaya three-up with two to play during round one.

The WGC event field features 64 golfers who have been split into 16 groups.

Each player has one match each against the other group competitors with the golfer on the highest points then advancing to the weekend sudden-death knockout stage.

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