Lucas Herbert
Lucas Herbert

Lucas Herbert produced one of the most explosive nine-hole stretches in major championship history Friday, firing a 6-under-par 28 on the front nine at Royal Birkdale to seize the lead in the second round of the 154th Open Championship.

The 30-year-old Australian birdied six of the first nine holes to match the lowest nine-hole score ever recorded at the Open, equaling a record set by Denis Durnian, a club professional from Manchester, England, who carded the same 28 on Royal Birkdale's front nine during the 1983 Open. Durnian's round has stood alone in Open history for more than four decades, with the Englishman narrowly missing an even lower score when he lipped out a 10-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole that day. Brad Faxon is the only other player to shoot a 28 for nine holes in major championship history, doing so on the front nine at Riviera during the final round of the 1995 PGA Championship.

Herbert's round began with three consecutive birdies to open his second-round tee time, converting from 16 feet at the par-4 first hole, 15 feet at the par-5 second, and 5 feet at the par-4 third. He added further birdies later in the outward nine, including at the short par-4 fifth hole after driving the green, and again at the ninth. The sequence propelled him from a modest, even-par 70 in Thursday's opening round into the solo lead of the tournament by the turn on Friday.

Herbert did not let up on the back nine, adding two more birdies to push his tournament total to 8-under par, firmly positioning him as the man to beat as the second round continued at the Southport links. His round represents just the sixth Open Championship appearance of his career, having missed the cut in three of his five previous starts at the tournament.

Royal Birkdale carries a rich history of low scoring, adding further context to Herbert's feat. The course played host to the lowest 18-hole score in Open Championship history when South Africa's Branden Grace carded a 62 there in 2017, a mark that remains the standard for a single round at the tournament. Friday's round adds another chapter to that scoring legacy, with Herbert's front-nine 28 now standing alongside Durnian's as the most efficient nine holes ever played in the championship's history.

Herbert's surge came as several of the tournament's bigger names struggled to keep pace early in the second round. American Jackson Suber, who opened the tournament Thursday with a 5-under 65 to take a one-shot lead over the field, continued to hover near the top of the leaderboard Friday despite a bogey-marred round that included a 1-under 69 through much of his day. Suber, 26, entered this week's tournament without a PGA Tour win and had never previously competed in Europe, making his overnight lead one of the more unexpected storylines of the tournament's opening rounds.

Other players also posted low scores during Friday's second round as scoring conditions proved generous across Royal Birkdale. American Eric Cole carded a 64, while both Patrick Reed and Herbert reached 5-under on their individual rounds with holes still remaining to play, according to live scoring updates from the tournament. Reed in particular caught fire with five birdies across a seven-hole stretch to reach 3-under for the tournament.

Not every contender found similar magic. Two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau opened his tournament with a 67 Thursday, placing him one shot off the early pace and helping keep alive his bid to avoid missing the cut at all four majors in 2026. DeChambeau, however, again declined to speak with reporters following his round, marking the fifth consecutive major championship round in which he has passed on postround media interviews.

Friday's second round also carries heightened stakes given the tournament's 36-hole cut, which under Open Championship rules allows the top 70 players and ties to continue into the weekend. With low scores flowing across the course under favorable weather conditions, the margin for players hoping to make the cut appeared likely to tighten considerably by the end of Friday's play.

Herbert enters the weekend as one of the form players in the field, having built his round around an aggressive, birdie-hunting style that has become a hallmark of his game throughout his career. The Victoria native has previously contended at his national championship, the Australian Open, where he has held outright leads in past editions, and has picked up wins on both the European Tour and LIV Golf, which he joined as part of Cameron Smith's Ripper GC team.

Friday's historic front nine adds to a growing list of Open Championship storylines at Royal Birkdale, a course that has hosted the tournament ten times and has developed a reputation among players for rewarding aggressive scoring when conditions align. With Herbert now firmly established at the top of the leaderboard and a cluster of contenders bunched closely behind him, the tournament appeared set for a closely contested weekend as the year's final major championship moves into its decisive rounds.

Play was continuing across Royal Birkdale as Friday's second round unfolded, with a full leaderboard shakeup expected by the close of play as later tee times, including groups featuring Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick, worked their way through the course under conditions that had already produced one of the lowest nine-hole scores in the championship's long history.

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