Herbert misses out on lowest round in major history but surges into British Open lead

[p]The 30-year-old, who began ‌the day on level par, had a par ‌putt of around five feet on Royal Birkdale's 18th ‌green to make history, but it slid past ‌for his only bogey of the day.[/p][embed guid="a29d0bee-af3f-4d7f-b764-d16939b3d25f" url="https://x.com/TheOpen/status/2078108630339944739" social-type="twitter" /][p]Despite an incredible round of golf he looked dejected as he shook hands ‌with his playing partners, having equalled ⁠the men's major record ‌low round achieved on several occasions, including by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/grace-branden/S2gO5fgJ/"]Branden Grace[/a] ​at the 2017 Open also at Royal Birkdale.[/p][p]With benign conditions on the sun-baked course, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/herbert-lucas/n9uhHG2A/"]​Herbert[/a] unleashed a breathtaking blitz of birdies.[/p][p]He rolled in six as he reached the turn in 28 ⁠shots -- equalling the ​nine-hole Open record of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/durnian-denis/bsANNN9I/"]Denis Durnian[/a] at Birkdale in 1983. His assault continued on the back nine with birdies at the 11th, 12th and 16th and when ‌he set up a birdie putt on the 17th with a stunning chip even a sub-60 round looked possible.[/p][p]Herbert missed that but a par on the long par-four 18th would have done the job. After a wayward drive he left himself with a relatively straightforward up-and-down from in front of the green, but he faltered at the last.[/p][embed guid="c79f3bc5-7cb1-4c11-a385-a89c5b53a2bf" url="https://x.com/TheOpen/status/2078073084586729605" social-type="twitter" /][p]The other ‌62s in men's major rounds were by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fowler-rickie/z9A2Fe31/"]Rickie ​Fowler[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schauffele-xander/OnIoiVkm/"]Xander Schauffele[/a] at the 2023 U.S. ‌Open and by Xander Schauffele and Shane Lowry at the 2024 PGA Championship.[/p][p]Herbert, who missed the cut on three of his last four Open appearances, leads by two shots from overnight leader ⁠Jackson Suber who ⁠followed his opening 65 ‌with a solid one-under 69.[/p]