TWO finishing birdies has given Lucas Herbert his best ever result at a major tournament.
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The 26-year-old Bendigo golfer capped off a challenging final round at the US PGA with back-to-back birdies on holes 17 and 18 to finish at T13 (E) on the leaderboard.
Herbert started the day with opening birdies on holes one and four, before making five straight pars to make the turn at Southern Hills Country Club.
However, the stretch from holes 11 through to 16 presented various challenges and would see him fall back down the leaderboard.
He made bogeys on 11, 12 and 14 before carding a double on the 16th.
However, with an exemption for next year's US PGA at Oak Hill Country Club on offer for a top-15 finish, Herbert dug-deep to finish in style.
He capped off the round birdies on holes 17 and 18 to finish at one-over for the day, T13 overall.
"It was a pretty frustrating day, to be honest," Herbert told Australian Golf Digest.
"I thought at the start of the day if I shot 64, I was going to put myself right in there and make those boys sweat those last few holes. I had it right within my reach through nine holes and I needed to be patient.
"I thought I played a lot better than what the scorecard shows. I got a few bad breaks; I felt the wind switch on me a couple of times on the back nine. But I also hit a couple of bad shots.
"I (mishit) only about two shots for the entire day and I got punished for a few other shots that were just a little bit off, which I felt I shouldn't have been punished for.
"I'll have to put it down as one of those days.
I went through the proper processes on the back nine and thought about each shot. It just didn't happen for me. But that's major championship golf and that's what you sign up for. "
Prior to T13 at the US PGA, his best finish in a major was back in 2020 at the US Open hosted by Winged Foot Golf Club.
"Yes it's nice to tick off top 15 in a Major, I hadn't finished in the top 30 before this week," Herbert said.
"I'm sure I'll appreciate it when the frustration settles. It was satisfying to be in the mix at a major."
Meanwhile, American Justin Thomas sealed victory after clawing back a seven-shot deficit to book himself a spot in the playoff against Will Zalatoris (USA).
In the three-hole aggregate playoff, Thomas birdied the 13th and 17th and parred the 18th, enough to defeat Zalatoris and to lift the Wanamaker Trophy for the second time in his career.
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