Thailand’s Prom Meesawat is hoping to better his result when he returns to the starting tee for the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth which begins on Thursday.

The Thai led the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth after 54 holes at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club last year but fell at his first hurdle when he lost to Australian Min Woo Lee, who won 2-Up against the Thai in the second round of the knockout match play.

Having welcomed his baby boy three months ago, the father-of-two is enjoying the time of his life now and is hopeful of carrying forward his domestic bliss onto the golf course this week.

India’s Viraj Madappa, a one-time Asian Tour winner, is ready to get his season underway in his debut appearance at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth.

Despite missing the cut at the Asian Tour season-opening event in Singapore last month, Madappa believes he has grown in maturity and confidence since his breakthrough on home soil last August.

Major winner Geoff Ogilvy of Australia is meanwhile looking forward to a memorable homecoming having spent 20 years in the United States.

He missed 14 of 16 cuts on the PGA TOUR last year and is planning to wind down his career as he attempts to spend more time with his family.

Did you know?

Prom Meesawat is nicknamed “The Big Dolphin” because of his physique and that he hails from Hua Hin, a coastal town in Thailand.

He finished two shots ahead of the rest of the field after the stroke play rounds last year. The burly Thai golfer, along with seven others in the top eight, went straight into the second round of the knockout matchplay on Sunday. This arrangement will be retained this year.

He lost to Australian Min Woo Lee, who finished the match 2-Up against the Thai.

Viraj Madappa became the youngest Indian player to win on the Asian Tour after lifting the 2018 TAKE Solutions Masters trophy in August.

He won at the age of 20 years and nine months, breaking the previous record set by Gaganjeet Bhullar, who was 21 years and three months old when he won his first Asian Tour title at the 2009 Indonesia President Invitational.

He followed up that win with another two top-10s at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship and season-ending Indonesian Masters to end 2018 in 35th place on the Asian Tour Habitat for Humanity Standings.

Geoff Ogilvy won the US Open in 2006 and also three World Golf Championships.

He was once ranked as high as third place on the Official World Golf Ranking in 2008.

The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth is the final event for players to boost their world rankings and break into the top-50 so as to qualify for the World Golf Championships- Mexico Championship next week.

The ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth is the only tournament in professional golf that features an innovative stroke play and match play format.

Players’ Quotes

Prom Meesawat (Tha)

It’s always nice to be back in a tournament where you have played well. Always good memories. You always try to ride on those positives and play even better. Everyone’s goal here is to win the tournament and you just got to believe in yourself, go out there and enjoy yourself. I was a little disappointed to have missed out on the win last year but the format has been set up this way and you just have to play according to the format. I felt six holes were too short for a match play and if there were more holes, I could have continued to stay in contention. But having said that, Lee played really well last year and I did the best I could then. I’m having a good life outside the golf course too especially being a father to two lovely kids now. It’s the best time of the year when you spend quality time with your little ones.

Viraj Madappa (Ind)

This is the first time I’m playing anything close to this format. It’s going to be exciting. I guess I just have to get through the first three days. I haven’t played too many match play events but I always enjoy playing them whenever I have that chance at home and the international amateur events. The course is lovely. It isn’t very long so you got to place the ball in the right position. The wind picks up in the afternoon and you have to be very careful. I’ve set higher expectations for myself this year. I’m more comfortable on Tour and that should help me a little more this year. I’m more familiar with the golf courses and people. I just have to keep doing my thing and hopefully it all work out. My good friend Shubhankar (Sharma) won the Order of Merit last year and I want to follow that path. My goal is the win the Order of Merit and I’ll try to work towards that. A good finish this week will definitely help.

Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)

I definitely got a bit jaded with the U.S. Tour.  The typical U.S. Tour setup is very similar every week, and it’s great and the PGA TOUR is an incredible tour, its unbelievable, but it just didn’t inspire me anymore.  I wasn’t getting excited to see these golf courses.  Every now and then you get some really amazing ones on that Tour, but generally the setups I didn’t really enjoy.  An added bonus to being here is being able to come and play more tournaments on courses that I enjoy, yeah, and this is one of the examples. We landed in January.  It’s been great.  I haven’t had a smile off my face for a month and a half.  It’s been a long time. I loved living in the U.S. and I loved playing there, and I’ll still play there a bit, I’m sure.  But happy to have the family back in Australia and amongst your people.  I love it in America, I love it here and this is home.  I wanted my kids to experience a little bit what I had.  My wife was always pretty interested in moving here. I’ve never been more motivated to be a good golfer, but I’ve never been less motivated to run around with a suitcase and go to strange places and leave the family.

Belgian headliner Thomas Pieters has warned against looking ahead to Sunday’s knockout phase of the ISPS HANDA Super 6 Perth as players vie for a place in the final 24 starting with Thursday’s opening round at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Pieters will tee off from the 10th tee at 7.10am on Thursday alongside Perth local Jason Scrivener and New South Welshman Dimitrios Papadatos, following on from the group containing Perth prodigy Min Woo Lee, Vic Open champion David Law and rising Victorian talent Lucas Herbert.

The feature afternoon groups include 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy playing with Japan’s Yuta Ikeda and Adelaide’s Wade Ormsby at 12.10pm to be followed by England’s Tom Lewis, Adrian Otaegui from Spain and Victorian Matthew Griffin.

After two rounds of stroke play on Thursday and Friday the field will be cut down to the top-65 plus ties for Saturday before the top-24 advance to the six-hole match play knockout phase of the tournament on Sunday.

Having hosted the inaugural Belgian Knockout last May – a tournament that moved into two days of match play after a 36-hole cut – Pieters knows how the wrong mentality has the potential to bring a player undone.

“I guess when you’re just around that number on Saturday you might differ in some of the holes, how you play them,” Pieters said of having one eye on the top 24 cut-off. “But you try to get up that leaderboard as high as you can at any tournament.

“At my tournament I found it difficult. I remember on Friday afternoon I was a top-64 qualifier – I was maybe 20th or something – and you get a bit careless. You know you’ve got four shots to play with on the last three holes and I think that’s something maybe when you’re lying fifth, sixth, seventh at this tournament on a Saturday, you can get a bit careless.

“The top eight players get a bye (in the first round of match play), so that’s a big bonus as well. I think you want to just get in the top eight.”

A two-time winner of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Geoff Ogilvy absolutely has his sights on qualifying for the final 24.

After finishing 35th at the Vic Open a week ago, Ogilvy knows that all the pieces of his game are coming together and likes his prospects if he can make it through to Sunday.

“I’m not sure how that’s going to feel – six holes in match play, because that’s very quick – but match play’s always been one of my favourite forms of the game,” said Ogilvy.

“You kind of throw the scorecard out. It’s just me and you, let’s go. I really, really, really enjoy that.

“If I can play well, I can do okay, but the goal would be to make the match play and see what happens.

“I feel like if I can get to the match play I have as much chance as anyone else in the top 24.”

Battling illness since flying into Perth on Monday, Pieters credited his sister, Leiselotte, for devising the concept behind the Belgian Knockout and is adamant that golf must explore innovative tournament formats in order to engage with fans.

“I just like new ideas and I think it makes it interesting for the public to watch on TV,” Pieters explained.

“I think that’s where golf is going to go or needs to go, especially with young guys playing aggressive golf. Like I said, I think it’s fun to watch.

“We wanted a tournament in Belgium and we wanted something different. I can’t really remember who came up with the idea but I wanted a match play event.

“When you start match play on Thursday, people can get upset if you just lose your first match and you have to go home. This way everybody gets two rounds like a normal tournament, and the ones who play well move on.

“I lost my first match last year on Saturday at my tournament and it hurt, you know.

“I played at 8 in the morning and at 9.30 was back home and I lost. That’s golf. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

“Same thing here. On Sunday you can be back at the hotel at 9.30am.”

One of golf’s more cerebral thinkers, Ogilvy too believes that the game needs a greater variety of formats and that the Super 6 concept in particular is one worth persisting with.

“There’s plenty of room in golf for different stuff other than 72-hole stroke play,” said Ogilvy.

“Pure match play tournaments don’t seem to work commercially because half the field’s gone every day.  But this is kind of that happy medium.

“The traditionalists are happy because we’re playing stroke play for three days, and the 20/20 crowd is happy because we’re playing the six-hole match play (on Sunday).

“I hope that they can keep it going because I think it’s a good idea.”

The first groups of the ISPS HANDA Super 6 Perth tee off at 6.40am on Thursday with the first of the afternoon groups to start at 11.40am.

A week in New Orleans behind enemy lines shapes as the X-factor in the Internationals breaking a 21-year winless drought at the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in December.

Shortly after US captain Tiger Woods announced Fred Couples, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson as three of his assistants for the biennial matches at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in December, Geoff Ogilvy spoke of his role as an assistant to Internationals captain Ernie Els.

Playing this week’s ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth event at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, Ogilvy revealed that he will make one of few appearances on the PGA TOUR this year at the Zurich Classic at New Orleans in April, where those in contention to represent the Internationals will be encouraged to take part in the two-man teams event.

Aussies Jason Day and Adam Scott have indicated they will reform their 2013 World Cup-winning partnership in Louisiana with Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith another likely combination when the teams meet in Melbourne.

Although unsure he will play with that week – “I’ll do whatever Ernie tells me to do” – Ogilvy is adamant that the opportunity to play fourball and foursomes in tournament conditions is one that the Internationals would be foolish to ignore.

“We’ve got some emails and WhatsApp groups going around to try and work out some pairings for New Orleans because it is such a great opportunity. We never get to play best ball and foursomes in a tournament,” Ogilvy explained.

“We know the pairings that work, try a few different ones, flying a little bit less by-the-seat-of-your-pants during the week of the Presidents Cup because we’ll have a little bit of a measure from New Orleans.

“And it will be a bonding week. We’re all going to get in the same hotel in the same area; New Orleans is a good week to eat and drink and be merry and enjoy each other’s company.”

Leishman, Smith and Day all currently sit inside the top-10 in the Presidents Cup standings with Ogilvy revealing that he and Els had been discussing how they could engineer a win since serving as assistants under Nick Price when the Internationals were defeated 19-11 two years ago.

“Ernie and I were both assistants in New York last time and we were talking a lot about what we’re going to do next time,” Ogilvy said.

“It wasn’t anything that was different from ‘Pricey’ but just ideas he has picked up playing every Presidents Cup up until the last one.

“A more competitive guy than anyone I have ever met, Ernie Els. Hyper competitive, so he’s very motivated.

“He’s been very active on the emails and the messages, he’s leaving no stone unturned, I’ll say that much. I think he’ll be a great captain.”

While Els and Ogilvy are carefully plotting the Internationals’ preparation, Ogilvy questioned the timing of Woods’ tournament, the Hero World Challenge, the week before in the Bahamas.

“The logistics of flying from the Bahamas on Sunday and trying to play in Melbourne on Thursday, that’s a big trip,” Ogilvy said.

“That’s an advantage for us. If they’re coming across 13 time zones two days before the tournament starts, that’s a massive advantage for us I would think.”

A three-time Presidents Cup representative, Ogilvy was a month into his professional career when the Internationals enjoyed their lone win at Royal Melbourne in 1998 and having relocated back to Melbourne with his family in January, is excited by the prospect of being part of a winning team in December.

“I missed the cut at the NZ Open at Formosa and I flew back and watched the weekend,” Ogilvy recalled.

“That was great.

“It would be nice to do that again. That looked fun.”

Jason Scrivener intends to use the pressure of playing in front of family and friends to propel him to a maiden European Tour win at this week’s ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth tournament at Lake Karrinyup Country Club.

Local hopes such as Scrivener, Min Woo Lee, Jarryd Felton, Daniel Fox and Perth native Nick O’Hern will go head-to-head with a star-studded field that includes Belgian Thomas Pieters, England’s Tom Lewis, Japan’s Yuta Ikeda, Kiwi Ryan Fox and fellow Australians Lucas Herbert, Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby and Wade Ormsby.

Entering his fifth year on the European Tour, Scrivener has already logged four top-10 finishes since the Honma Hong Kong Open in November, his latest a tie for fifth at last week’s ISPS HANDA Vic Open.

The 2017 NSW Open champion has moved up to No.127 in the world and wants to use a rare start on home soil to show just how far his game has come.

“I’d be lying if I said that playing at home doesn’t come with some extra pressure but I think that’s good,” said Scrivener, who will tee off with Pieters and Dimi Papadatos at 7.10am on Thursday morning.

“It usually makes me focus that little bit more. I want to play well in front of friends and family and give them a bit of a show.

“I feel like I’ve done that and played well the past few years so it’s a nice treat.

“Everyone is saying that I’m in good form and that I’m playing well. I feel like I may have gone up a level and my expectations of myself have gone up a bit more because of that.

“I want to keep improving and take it to the next level. I want to start winning as much as I can.

“I’ve been close to winning a European Tour event but it would be nice to get the monkey off the back.

“That’s why the ISPS HANDA Vic Open last week was a tough one to take. I felt like I probably let that tournament slip through my fingers but if I was able to turn that disappointment into a win this week it will all be worth it.”

Ironically, qualifying for the US Open at Shinnecock Hills led to a downturn in form that threatened to strip Scrivener of his status on the European Tour.

In the wake of missing the cut at the US Open by a shot, the 29-year-old finished better than 61st just once in his next seven starts but rallied late to not only keep his card but almost qualify for the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

A late call-up to the WGC-HSBC Championship in China exposed Scrivener to some of the best players in the world and revealed what he needed to do in order to join their ranks.

“In a matter of two months I went from having to play well to keep my card to almost playing my way into the final event of the year,” said Scrivener, who qualified for the semi-finals at Lake Karrinyup two years ago.

“Over those two months I played with a lot of top 50 players and they are relentless, they don’t waste any shots.

“I played with guys like Matt Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Patrick Cantlay, Sergio Garcia… They are all top-30 players year after year so they are obviously doing something that I’m not.

“The difference between us and the top golfers in the world is not a lot, they just do all of the little things really well. That all adds up over four rounds and over the course of the year.

“That’s what my mentality will be over the next couple of years, to tick every box and do all of those 1 per centers really well.

“This year I am going to set my sights a bit higher and try to go to that next level.”

Lucas Herbert has watched last year’s semi-final defeat to eventual ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat over and over again.

Whether through a social media post by the PGA of Australia or a quick search on YouTube, the 23-year-old Aussie has pored over the six-hole matchplay battle he lost on the first shootout hole.

Not to torture himself or provide some kind of warped motivation to go one better this week at Lake Karrinyup Country Club, but to remember the good shots that he hit and imprint positive thoughts onto his brain.

After taking affiliate membership of the European Tour following the 2017 Australian PGA Championship, Herbert’s semi-final finish last February provided the early impetus he needed to go on and earn a full card for 2019.

As such, he returns to Perth not to right any wrongs but reflect on a week that had life-changing ramifications.

“What a win would have given me is what I ended up getting, so it’s a bit easier to sleep on,” Herbert said of falling one well-struck wedge from qualifying for the final.

“I still think about that six-hole match against Kiradech in the semi quite a lot. I still go back and watch the highlights quite a bit because I hit some pretty good shots in there as well.

“I holed some nice putts under pressure which, going back and watching those shots again and watching those putts go in you get that nice vibe back.

"It refreshes in your memory that you’ve done that before and you can carry that on to the course a bit easier.

“You just see yourself hitting nice shots and it’s good for positive feedback.

“He hit an unbelievable shot in the shootout hole to beat me, so it wasn’t like I kind of lost it and, you know, fell apart.

“It was a little bit heart-breaking but I played pretty well and did everything I could. He was just better than me when it came down to the clutch.”

Despite the obvious disappointment, Herbert and Aphibarnrat struck up an unlikely friendship out on tour, the Thai powerhouse sharing insights in to how he climbed into the top echelon of world golf.

Prior to last year’s tournament the Bendigo product was ranked 226 in the world but will tee off on Thursday the No.76 ranked player on the planet.

His goals for 2019 include finishing inside the top-20 in the Race to Dubai rankings and breaking into the top-50 in the world, the advice of his semi-final conqueror still ringing in his ears.

“Out in Europe, and we hung out and chatted,” Herbert revealed.

“I remember sharing a courtesy car from the hotel to the airport in Turkey and we chatted about how he progressed into the top-50 in the world from the European Tour.

"He was chatting about how that went, and sort of giving me some ideas, hopefully, for down the track.

“Given the year I had last year and finishing 48th (on the Order of Merit), I think top-20 is a reasonable goal.

“Hopefully that will give me a chance to play some more Majors and WGCs through this year and next year as well.

"That will ultimately give me the exposure I need to the best players in the world, and to take my game to the next level again and hopefully try and crack into that US Tour.

“I definitely want to get to the top-50 in the world, so just working on those goals, but you set them at the start of the year and then forget about them.

“Then you go about worrying about the day to day processes and ticking box at each tournament, making sure you’re ready to go come Thursday.”

He fell foul of the waste areas at The Emirates Club but Lucas Herbert has made an instant impression at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, finishing tied for seventh in his tournament debut.

Enjoying a share of the lead at the halfway mark, Herbert began the final round four shots behind American Bryson DeChambeau but like the rest of the chasing pack could do nothing to stop an imperious DeChambeau as he logged his fourth win in his past nine starts.

Also making his tournament debut, DeChambeau birdied each of his opening three holes in round 4 as he compiled a superb 8-under par 64 for a tournament record total of 24-under par and a seven-shot win.

Paired with DeChambeau in the third round, Herbert was dealt a cruel blow when he was penalised two strokes for grounding his club and moving loose impediments with his wedge in a waste area on the par-5 third. Waste areas on the Majils Course at The Emirates Club are considered bunkers and Herbert was told as he approached the ninth green that the two-stroke penalty would be imposed and the par he thought he had made would, in fact, be a double-bogey seven.

Showing remarkable mental resilience, Herbert made four consecutive birdies after receiving the news of his penalty to put himself back into contention entering the final round.

Birdies at the first and third holes were countered by bogeys at the second and fifth before a third birdie from close range at the seventh lifted him back up to 13-under.

Eager to take advantage of the back-9 that he had played in 11-under in the opening three rounds, Herbert added another birdie at the par-5 10th but had to wait until the 72nd hole to make another, his final round of 3-under 69 good enough to register his first top-10 of the year.

Playing as an affiliate member last year Herbert recorded five top-five finishes and said with access to the European Tour’s biggest events in 2019 a repeat of those results would represent a positive year.

“If I could have another five top-fives, that would be pretty good, given this year we’re going to get some really good opportunities to play the Rolex events,” said Herbert, who won €66,021 to move to 41st in the Race to Dubai standings.

“I’d love to play some majors and WGCs if that comes up, as well.

“Obviously I’m going to play in some bigger events this year. With locking up my card, I can now play the Rolex events, and that’s going to bring a new challenge, playing against harder players for a lot more money.

“Five top-fives again, I’d be pretty happy with that with the schedule I’ve got.

“But if we just keep ticking off the right processes and keep improving, I can’t go too far wrong.”

As Herbert finished top-10 for the first time this season West Australian Jason Scrivener quietly went about making it three top-10s in four starts to move up to 12th in the Race to Dubai points list.

Top-20 in Abu Dhabi a week ago, rounds of 67-67 to start the week put Scrivener in position to mount a challenge of his own over the weekend, a final round of 4-under 68 moving him up alongside Herbert in a tie for seventh.

After making the turn in 1-under 34, Scrivener picked up shots at 10, 16 and 18 to continue his excellent start to 2019.

Queensland’s Scott Hend was unable to maintain the momentum from an opening round of 6-under 66 as he finished tied for 48th while Sam Brazel finished with a flurry – six birdies in his final nine holes – to move up 11 spots on Sunday and into a tie for 56th.

Like Hend, Wade Ormsby made a bright start to the tournament but lost ground with a 5-over 77 in the third round, eventually finishing tied for 64th at 3-under par.

Lucas Herbert produced a stunning second round but could not hold off the attentions of World Number Five Bryson DeChambeau at the halfway stage of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

The Australian equalled his career-best round of 63 recorded at both the Portugal Masters and the Rocco Forte Sicilian Open last season as he rolled in an eagle and seven birdies at the Emirates Golf Club, but will be joined at the top of the leaderboard by the American on 12 under par.

Alviro Quiros held the clubhouse lead at 11 under par but was joined by four-time Major Championship winner Ernie Els for tied third, while defending champion Haotong Li, qualifier Callum Shinwin, Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Matt Wallace were all at ten under par.

Overnight leader Matt Fitzpatrick was one shot further adrift alonsgide Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, Finn Kim Hoivu and Australian Scott Hend.

Herbert got off to a flying start on the back nine with eagle-birdie-birdie before adding a further gain at the 16th to reach the turn in 32. The 23 year old then rolled in back-to-back gains from the first and picked up further shots at the fifth and eighth to take sole lead from Quiros.

However, he produced his best moments at the ninth – his last – when his wayward tee shot went so far right it missed the water and onto the dirt track, only to land his approach on the green for a difficult par putt. But he holed the 40-foot left-to-righter to nudge ahead with the best round of the day.

"Everyone is making those numbers around the back nine," Herbert said. "You’ve obviously got the three par-5s, and 17 is drivable, so there’s some good birdie opportunities.

"I knew I just had to take advantage of them straight out of the gate. I did that with an eagle-birdie-birdie start, and kind of just kept flowing. I was like seven under through about 11 holes, and it just felt like I was cruising. I probably left some out there to be honest."

World Number Five DeChambaeu hit a terrific approach from a bunker at the third to rescue a birdie, only for the American to hand that shot back at the next but he worked his way back into contention with three successive gains from the sixth – which included a stunning second shot at the eighth from the dirt track following a shanked tee.

He finished the front nine with a second bogey but responded in style by sinking a 20-foot eagle put at the tenth. A third dropped shot followed at the 12th, but picked it up immediately before finishing his round with birdie-birdie to join Herbert at the top in a congested leaderboard.

Spaniard Quiros has not been in the winner’s circle since victory at the Rocco Forte Open – Vendura, Sicily in May 2017 but put himself in a strong position to end that drought with an eight-under-par second round, which contained an opening bogey followed by eight birdies to set the initial target of 11 under.

Els rolled back the years to hit a superb 65 and move in contention as he carded an eagle, seven birdies and two dropped shots to earn a late start on Saturday.

Kalle Samooja almost capped off a brilliant birthday as the Finn moved to 11 under following five birdies in his first 16 holes, but his hard work was undone by a bogey and double-bogey on the final two holes as joined a group of 13 players at eight under – including Thorbjørn Olesen, 2017 Masters Champion Sergio Garcia and brief second-round leader Thomas Detry.

First published on EuropeanTour.com

Lucas Herbert’s extraordinary European Tour season could yet reach further heights with the 22-year-old in the hunt to be crowned the European Tour Rookie of the Year.

Still playing as an affiliate member, Herbert played his way into the European Tour Race to Dubai finals courtesy of three consecutive top-10 finishes from late September including second at the Portugal Masters and tied for third at the Sky Sports British Masters.

That run of form wrapped up a European Tour card for 2019 along with a place in the finals where he opened with a tie for 35th at last week’s Turkish Airlines Open.

This week Herbert begins the Nedbank Challenge at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City 40th in the Race to Dubai Rankings and destined to complete his season at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

It’s been a wild and remarkable ride that began in February with no guarantees and a reliance on sponsor invitations but could end with Herbert claiming the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award.

The man Herbert must catch to be crowned the year’s best rookie is India’s Shubhankar Sharma who is close to 400,000 points ahead in 27th position in the rankings but given all that he has achieved already in 2018, you can’t say anything is beyond him.

With an eye on breaking into the top 50 in the world – which would also open up opportunities to play on the PGA Tour next year – Herbert spoke of the relief of being able to secure his future in Europe for the next 12 months.

“It’s been quite a good month and a bit now, from Portugal onwards,” Herbert told the Inside the Ropes podcast prior to the Turkish Airlines Open.

“Prior to that I had a whole lot running through my head and I did it, I locked up a European Tour card.

“That was a really nice way to capitalise on some good work for the year.

“We’ve got a schedule now for Europe next year where I know where I can play week in and week out.

“I’m setting this top 50 goal so I can go to the US next year and completely throw everything else out the window.

“That feels like what I’ve done this year anyway.”

Sitting 18th in the Race to Dubai rankings, Ryan Fox is the best positioned of the Australasian contingent with two events left to play with Wade Orsmby and Jason Scrivener joining Herbert as the Aussie representatives playing in South Africa this week.

Scrivener advanced to the Nedbank Challenge courtesy of his tie for 23rd at the Turkish Airlines Open but needs another strong week to qualify for the season finale.

Ormsby’s start in Dubai next week looks more assured, starting this week 46th on the Order of Merit.

Lucas Herbert is looking to end 2018 ranked inside the top-50 players in the world and the Australian PGA Championship will play a big part in that plan.

Having a breakout season on the European Tour, Herbert teed off the year with a third-place finish at the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth and parlayed that into a further five top-10 finishes from 17 starts to secure his card on the lucrative Tour.

Now with that goal achieved, the 22-year-old has his sights set on the world top-50, major championships and world golf championships.

“When I am asked what my goals are, I am happy to let people know. You can’t knock a kid with dreams,” said Herbert, who brings a refreshing honesty and exuberance when speaking of his career up to this point.

“Mine is top-50 in the world by the end of the year; I want to play all four Majors next year, play the WGC events and be able to play whatever I want for the entire year.

“The form that I am currently in and the confidence I am taking into the last four events of the season, I don’t see any reason why I can’t achieve it.

“But if you look at the maths and the world ranking points that I need to earn, I am going to have to probably play as good as I have been, if not better.

“It is probably going to mean, that if I get up near the lead, I am really going to have to capitalise and try to win.”

Herbert’s best chance at winning could come at the Australian PGA Championship where he finished tied 7^th last year.

“On paper the Australian PGA Championship does look like my best opportunity to win, but I don’t think that makes it any easier, there are so many good Australian players. In the other three tournaments I only have 60 players to beat, where as I am going to have 156 on the Gold Coast,” added Herbert.

“Because I have had good results overseas, by the numbers I probably am a favourite, but I never think of it like that because I know how much talent there is in Australia.

“They are all going to want to put in a good performance to take advantage of the opportunities on offer at the Australian PGA Championship.”

The winner of the tournament will earn full status on the European Tour until the end of the 2020 season plus a start in the World Golf Championship – FedEx St Jude Invitational.

But for Herbert, the prestige of having his name engraved on the Kirkwood Cup outweighs the many benefits derived from a tournament victory.

“The one thing that has stood out for me this year, I can’t even remember how many top-10’s I have had now, but I haven’t had a win,” added Herbert.

“I think that would really make this year quite memorable for me, if I was able to get myself that first win.

“I have four events left for the year and I would be happy to win any of them. Three of them are $7 million Race to Dubai events and while the Aussie PGA is quite a drop financially, it would mean quite a lot more to me sentimentally, with it being in Australia, where I learnt my trade and played my first few years. It would mean quite a lot to win the Australian PGA Championship for sure.”

Should Herbert find himself in that position come the 72^nd hole at RACV Royal Pines Resort, his competitors had better brace themselves as winning is his only mindset.

“Not many people I know are more competitive than I am. I wouldn’t say that I am overly confident, I am just that competitive and I hate losing,” added Herbert.

“It just ends up that I would prefer to have the putt on 18 to win the match than have someone else with that putt and I need to rely on them missing it.

“I think I am quickly learning what the whole package is, that I need to play well week to week, month to month, year to year and we continue to develop that.

“But given my results at the back half of this year I think I am close to finding a formula that gives me pretty good results.”

That single-minded focused coupled with his exceptional big hitting capabilities will make Herbert a force to be reckoned with at RACV Royal Pines Resort.

“I think with the Graham Marsh design, if you can fly your ball over a few of those fairway bunkers it just makes life so much easier,” added Herbert.

‘I think on a hole like 13 if you hit it 250 metres off the tee its quite a tricky driving hole but if you hit it 270 it just opens up a lot. It seems like one of those courses where 10, 15 metres can just make it play so differently.

“So in that respect it definitely suits me, but I would add, on those Queensland Bermuda greens I am not as familiar with them as the bent grass I grew up on down here in Victoria. So I am trying to learn more about that type of grass and how to play those sorts of greens.”

A festival of golf, the Australian PGA Championship has created a celebration of golf that players look forward to teeing it up in and Lucas Herbert is no exception.

“A PGA Tour of Australasia tournament on the Gold Coast, we are playing for good money, Marc Leishman and Cam Smith playing as well, I am quite excited to be playing,” added Herbert.

“I had a really good time up there last year. The Gold Coast is a great spot to hang out and it’s a good time of year with the weather being great.

“I have managed to get the same house as last year, I have a few friends coming up and we are going to really enjoy that week, I am really looking forward to it.”

The Australian PGA Championship will be played at RACV Royal Pines Resort from 29 Nov – 2 Dec with the field set to feature Marc Leishman, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston and defending champion Cameron Smith.

The Queensland Government, via Tourism and Events Queensland, is proud to support the Australian PGA Championship which features on the It’s Live! in Queensland events calendar. Your perfect next event is in Queensland where live events combine with the most incredible destinations, and life is beautiful one day, perfect the next.

General admission to the Australian PGA Championship is $25* when purchased at the gate or via Ticketmaster with children, 16 and under, granted free admission when attending with a paying adult.

If a marquee is more your style, a number of different corporate hospitality options are also available, please visit pgachampionship.com.au.

Chasing a European Tour card, Lucas Herbert has teed it up in 17 tournaments including two Majors, across 15 countries and earned in excess of AU$1.2million.

But for the heights the 22-year-old has achieved, Herbert has his feet firmly on the ground and will this week tee it up in the AU$100,000 Eynesbury Masters on the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.

It is a tournament many may be surprised to see him entered into, but for Herbert it was a no brainer as he continues to prioritise Australian golf.

“I am going to play Dubai; I am not going to play the Australian Open which is kind of upsetting. I would love to come home and play it and I will in years to come,” said Herbert.

“But an event like Dubai, this early in my career, is a good chance to gain some financial security as well as give myself a really good chance to get to that top-50 in the world.

“I hope everyone understand my decision to play Dubai and don’t think it is a pattern of years to come. I really want to buck the trend on how Australian golfers don’t seem to come back and play our events.

“I want to be a big supporter of Australian golf, with missing the Australian Open I felt like I want to give back in some other way. Playing Eynesbury seems like a good idea to be able to do that and hopefully having me play helps promote the Ladbrokes Pro-Am Series.”

But there was a caveat to Herbert teeing it up in the pro-am; he wanted to play with the Club Champion Jason Pallpratt and Nathan Mills.

“I played the Eynesbury pro-am at the start of last year and met a couple of really good guys. Pro-ams are always a little bit funny; you can tell pretty early on in the day what type of day you are going to have based on your partners,” added Herbert.

“These guys were really good to play with, irrelevant of the quality of golf, they were just good guys.

“I made some pretty good friendships, Jason who is the club champ, messages me frequently while I am away, wishing me good luck and congratulating me when I have had god results.

“So If I was able to play with those guys again I was more than happy to come and play again.”

Inherently competitive, Herbert will be out to win the Eynesbury Masters, just as he is aiming to win a European Tour event before the end of the year.

“I say at the moment I am not taking it too seriously; that it is just a good way to kick some jet lag and have some fun with the guys out there,” added Herbert.

“But, like always, I think when I walk onto the golf course I will get competitive and I will want to make putts and hit good shots.

“I don’t think I can ever stop that innate drive to win that is in me, so I am sure it will come out.”

The Eynesbury Masters will be played at Eynesbury Homestead and Golf from 19-21 October.

Joining Lucas Herbert in the field are 2018 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winners; Simon Hawkes, Daniel Fox, Daniel Gale and Aaron Pike.

Positions are still available for amateurs to tee it up in the Eynesbury Masters, for more information please visit eynesburygolf.com.au/cms/eynesbury-masters/