Thrift-Shop Putter Helps LIV Golf's Lucas Herbert Land International Series Japan Title

LIV golf pro, Lucas Herbert won his maiden Asian Tour title on Sunday thanks to a dominant five-stroke victory at the $2 million International Series Japan.

The Ripper GC star recorded the lowest final-round score at Caledonian Golf Club in Chiba - a seven-under 64 - to charge clear of the field and cruise home in front of playing partners Yuta Sugiura and Younghan Song, who shared second.

Herbert's 20-under total for the week consisted of just 23 putts in round four, all from a blade which he picked up in a Korean thrift store while preparing for LIV Golf Korea last week. The putter, called Code 01 Forged with an old Yes C-groove face, was similar to the one which was lost in transit while on his way to the 2018 Open Championship.

After stumbling across a very similar club while in Incheon, Korea earlier this month, Herbert made the purchase and went on to finish T13th at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. A matter of days later, the Australian tied the course record in Japan thanks to a nine-under 62.

But, remarkably, following his wire-to-wire win, Herbert saved the most credit for the club at the opposite end of his bag - a Titleist GT3 with a Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7x shaft.

He said: "I've played really well this year, and I think the driver was a big part of this success. So, I’ve got to thank Tom Davies, who works on my clubs. He was the one who put it in my hands. I had other thoughts of what I might be using this year and he encouraged me to give it a go. It seemed to have worked out pretty well."

Herbert - who leads the way in the Asian Tour's International Series Rankings while sharing first in the Order of Merit - began his final round in Japan tied at the top before watching playing partner, Song jump ahead via an early eagle.

The Korean was unable to build on his early momentum, though, and the man in fifth in the LIV Golf standings regained first via birdies at the second, fourth and fifth holes.

A horrible run down the par-five sixth threatened to derail the Australian's title bid, but he escaped with a decent bogey in the end and set about ripping up the rest of the course.

Four more birdies prior to his second bogey of the day at the 16th saw Herbert in a comfortable position before the last, but the 29-year-old wanted to finish with a flourish, and he did so thanks to an eagle at the last for the second day in a row.

“The way I’ve been playing this year, it’s been building to get a win at some point." said Herbert. "So, it’s nice to get it done here, especially in Japan, which is one of my favourite places. It’s nice to feel like some of the hard work that I put in has paid off. Holding that trophy is a pretty good feeling.”

Herbert's American LIV Golf peer, Cameron Tringale (66) rolled in a 15-foot eagle putt on the last to finish solo fourth at 14-under, one ahead of Thailand’s Atiruj Winaicharoenchai (65) and Japan’s Shunya Takeyasu (67).

Despite Herbert's good form this season and his recent success, he will not be teeing it up at Quail Hollow next week for the PGA Championship - something he remained philosophical about ahead of his win this week.

The Australian said: “You know, the reality is, I knew what I was signing up for when I came out to LIV. Hopefully one day it changes, and there's more of a defined pathway for the guys on LIV who are playing well to be playing in the Majors.

"I think there's players other than myself, that are playing really well, that are going to be teeing it up at Quail Hollow. So, you know, we would like to see that at some point."