The 154th Open Championship sees the best players in the world tackle Royal Birkdale in a bid to win the Claret Jug.
A number of the game's greats have triumphed at the Merseyside course, with Birkdale crowning Peter Thomson twice, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, Ian Baker-Finch, Mark O'Meara, Padraig Harrington all successful, and only Baker-Finch has won at Birkdale for their only major success.
In 2017, Spieth was successful with a score of 12-under-par, and very scoreable conditions on the Saturday saw Branden Grace card the lowest round in major championship history with a 62.
The 2026 edition has so far seen a similar absence of wind, though the fast and firm conditions are presenting a challenge. Not that Lucas Herbert has minded.
The Australian went out in just 28 shots on Friday, equalling the lowest nine-hole score at The Open. Interestingly, the previous nine-hole record was also set at Birkdale, by Denis Durnian in 1983.
Herbert got his round underway with three straight birdies before making par on the par-3 fourth. Another birdie came on the fifth before closing his front nine with par, birdie, par, birdie.
While low-scoring tends to come via a red-hot putter, Herbert's all-round play has been exemplary. Herbert made putts from 17 and 15 feet on his first two holes before sticking his approach on three to five feet. On the driveable par-4 fifth, Herbert just missed the green, getting up and down for another birdie.
Continuing his superb play on the back nine, the Australian holed two more birdie putts from nine feet and 13 feet to jump to eight-under-par and sit at the top of the leaderboard.
