The 26-year-old started Sunday's final round at Mount Juliet Estate three shots off the pace and encountered early trouble on the par-72 Jack Nicklaus-designed course.

After carding four bogeys on the front-nine Herbert made the turn at four-over par for the day which left plenty of work to do on the back-nine.

Determined to deliver his best effort in defending his title, Herbert dug-deep to finish the tournament in style.

In a repeat of the first round, he opened the back-nine with an eagle on the par-five 10th to claw back two shots.

It was then followed with three pars on holes 11 through 13 before he made his move up the leaderboard.

Sport news:

He went on a birdie blitz from holes 14 through 17 where he carded four straight birdies to move back to two-under for the day.

The round was capped off with a bogey on the par-four 18th to finish round four at one-under par, 12-under total and eight shots behind winner Adrian Meronk (-20).

Meronk, 29, made history as he is now the first Polish player to win a DP World Tour title after carding a six-under final round of 66 to secure the tournament three shots ahead of New Zealander Ryan Fox (-17).

The win has secured Meronk a start at the British Open which gets underway in two weeks time.

"I'm going to keep going forward. It's another step for me. And I'm excited I achieved it here in Ireland, such a great history, and I'm just super excited," Meronk said.

Herbert remains in Europe for the next two weeks to compete at the Scottish Open which begins this Thursday, followed by the British Open on July 14 at St Andrews.

If you're reading this it's because you're a loyal subscriber to the Bendigo Advertiser. If you want to get more out of your subscription join the discussion on the Bendigo Advertiser's subscriber group on Facebook today.