On January 26 last year, Australia’s Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert scored big wins on the world golfing stage.
Leishman recorded a one shot victory at the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open for his fifth win on that tour. The then 35-year-old began the final round four shots behind Spain’s Jon Rahm. Leishman made birdies on three of his opening four holes en route to a final round 65 to reach 15-under. He outlasted Rahm by one shot.
Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed, Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele are among those to watch this week at Torrey Pines. Other notables include, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth.
Other Australians in the field
Adam Scott, Jason Day, Cameron Davis, Rhein Gibson, Aaron Baddeley, Matt Jones, Cameron Smith, Cameron Percy and John Senden.
The European Tour moves its attention to this week’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Australia’s Lucas Herbert returns to Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, which was the scene of his maiden European Tour victory 12 months ago. The then 24-year-old from Bendigo made up six shots during the dramatic final round and went on to claim the win in a playoff against Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Herbert will be joined by a star-studded field including 2020 PGA Champion Collin Morikawa. The world No. 4 will make his first start at the event. Tyrrell Hatton, who won last week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, heads a strong English charge that includes Justin Rose, Lee Westwood and Paul Casey. Sergio Garcia (2017) is one of 11 former event winners in the field.
This year marks the 31st edition of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, making the iconic event the longest-running on the Race to Dubai outside of Europe.
Other Australians in the field
Scott Hend, Wade Ormsby, Min Woo Lee and Jason Scrivener
Photo credit: (Lucas Herbert) Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
Photo credit: (Marc Leishman) Donald Miralle/Getty Images
