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What I Learned: A Remarkable Turnaround, No-Win 59s and Another Pond Jump

Less than two months after a 23-over missed cut in Florida, Lucas Herbert won in Japan.
Alex Miceli|
What I Learned: A Remarkable Turnaround, No-Win 59s and Another Pond Jump
What I Learned: A Remarkable Turnaround, No-Win 59s and Another Pond Jump

Sunday in Japan, Lucas Herbert won the ISPS Handa Championship in a playoff over Aaron Cockerill, moving from 59th to 42nd in the Official World Golf Rankings (92nd in SIWGR).

The win was interesting because it was a little more than a month ago that the Australian missed the cut badly at the Players Championship by shooting 82-85, 23 over par.

At the time, Herbert was unwilling to explain four birdies, eight bogeys, 3 double bogeys, a triple bogey and two quintuple bogeys.

Was he hurt? Sick? He offered no answers that Friday in Ponte Vedra Beach.

A month later, Herbert was very talkative.

“It was kind of solid, I didn’t think I did anything special,” Herbert said after his playoff win. “I just hit solid shots where I needed to, didn’t think I hit too many bad shots. Made some putts where I needed to. It doesn’t feel like there was a pivotal moment in the back nine. Just solid golf and gave myself a chance to get in the playoff.”

I know Herbert is not sick or hurt, but he must not like Florida or Pete Dye.

By the way, PGM Ishioka Golf Club, the host of the ISPS Handa was designed by Jack Nicklaus.

A Magic Number, But Not a Win

Shooting 59 is still a thing. Breaking the 60 barrier will always be cause for celebration, even if the ball goes too far.

Mac Meissner, 24, was the latest to reach the magic number in the second round of the LECOM Suncoast Classic last week on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The SMU Mustang is the eighth player in KFT history to record a sub-60 round, joining Notah Begay III, Doug Dunakey, Jason Gore, Will Wilcox, Russell Knox, Sam Saunders and Stephan Jaeger.

“It's definitely going to be tough to back that up,” Meissner said after the round. “I think no one really talks about how hard it is to back up good rounds, so tomorrow I'm just going to focus on my process and commit to every shot and just kind of see how it goes.”

So, here’s what I learned: Shooting a sub-60 round doesn’t mean a victory.

Of those eight that broke 60 only two, Gore and Jaeger, won their event.

Meissner proved how hard it is to follow a great round, with a 69 in the third round and 70 in the final round to finish T16 in Florida.

New Pond, Same Jump

Lastly, we learned water is water.

Lilia Vu learned that after a playoff win over Angel Yin.

In 1988, when the event was named the Colgate Dinah Shore, Amy Alcott jumped in the pond on the 18th hole at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Since then, the winner jumped into what was called Poppie’s Pond, named after longtime tournament director Terry Wilcox.

This year, the LPGA’s first major moved to The Club at Carlton Woods in the Woodlands, Texas.

When Vu won, she took the leap and while it was like California, it was still water and water is water.

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Alex Miceli
ALEX MICELI

Alex Miceli, a journalist and radio/TV personality who has been involved in golf for 26 years, was the founder of Morning Read and eventually sold it to Buffalo Groupe. He continues to contribute writing, podcasts and videos to SI.com. In 1993, Miceli founded Golf.com, which he sold in 1999 to Quokka Sports. One year later, he founded Golf Press Association, an independent golf news service that provides golf content to news agencies, newspapers, magazines and websites. He served as the GPA’s publisher and chief executive officer. Since launching GPA, Miceli has written for numerous newspapers, magazines and websites. He started GolfWire in 2000, selling it nine years later to Turnstile Publishing Co.

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