LIV GOLF ADELAIDE

February 13, 2026

Lucas Herbert

The Grange

Ripper GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome to the media center Lucas Herbert, Ripper GC. Lucas, nice round today, finished 7-under. Please take us through your Friday.

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, I feel a bit lonely up here. I'm used to having three blokes with me when I'm up here.

Yeah, it was a good day. Got off to a good start. Teeing off on 9, that's kind of -- the scoring stretch I feel like here is probably really 7 through 13, but 9 through 13, I felt like I had to make things happen.

Yeah, felt like I had to get off to a good start, and I did, being 3-under there through the first five holes. And then kind of slowed down a little bit. Was struggling a little bit with some stuff technically and then found a rhythm from 16 onwards.

I played some really nice golf and kind of got rewarded there at the end with a couple putts going in.

Q. Speaking of being used to being up here with your teammates, right now Ripper is currently tied for first on the team leaderboard. How much are you keeping an eye on the team leaderboard knowing that there's still two more rounds to go after today?

LUCAS HERBERT: Probably more interested in the team leaderboard than I am the individual at the minute. I've had parties for winning and I've had parties for winning the teams events, and I can tell you the teams events are a lot more fun when we win those.

It's good to see the boys playing well. Looks like Leishy might have struggled a little bit today, but it feels like that; everyone kind of ham-and-eggs it nicely, and the boys have clearly played well, as well, to get us up into the lead. It's pretty exciting going into the weekend, and it's good to have the fifth Ripper behind us out here with Adelaide out in full force today.

Q. On that note about the crowd, how does it feel to have the crowds out here today, the energy from the folks here in Adelaide?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, it's pretty special. It's a credit to Adelaide. They keep turning on every year. Everyone keeps showing up. Different varieties of Ripper clothing or maroon kind of coloring.

But they keep turning up every year and supporting us. It makes it easy for us to have -- this is our favorite event because we get so much support out there.

Q. Lucas, you obviously had three great rounds leaving Riyadh. When you got here, how good were you feeling from your own game and the vibes that you took from those last three rounds?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, a lot of positives to take, as you said. I think I had kind of two things to deal with. One was obviously I got off to a bad start last week, so I wanted to make sure I got off to a better start this week. It's a four-rounder. You can't win it on the first day but you can definitely lose it. So I wanted to make sure I didn't lose it on that first day, and I was happy with yesterday. I think I was two shots outside the top 10 when I finished, which is very respectable and right there with it.

There was that, but then also I think sometimes when you're playing well, it can be a little scary because you almost -- I don't know what to do. You're always working on things when your game is struggling, and you know things that you're working into or feels that you're trying to create or whatever. When you're playing well, it can be a bit scary sometimes going, well, what do I do now. So just wanted to make sure I didn't over-practice early in the week, didn't overdo it.

It's pretty easy to burn energy out there, especially in the heat. Just wanted to make sure I tried to burn as few a calories as I could the last few days, so I've got some energy left come Sunday. Now it looks like we're going to be somewhere up the top of the leaderboard going into Saturday at least, so I've got that energy to spare.

Q. Leish was in here yesterday, and he said that the win in '24 was a top-3 moment in his career. Where would you rank that 2024 team win?

LUCAS HERBERT: It's probably hard to split between winning Dallas, the Team Championship, and here in '24. Obviously Dallas probably on paper means more because we won the entire season, but for a lot of sentimental reasons, this was a massive win and maybe the best, as well.

Like I said before, individual wins are fun to celebrate, but team wins are a lot more fun to celebrate together. A repeat of that this year, I wouldn't want to be a pub on Sunday night, put it that way.

Q. On the individual prospects, Leish was saying last night how massive it would be if an Aussie did get over the line here in Adelaide. Do you dare to dream, or how do you keep level given the magnitude of the opportunity?

LUCAS HERBERT: I've dreamt plenty, so it would be nothing new to think about. Look, there's two rounds to go there.

I wouldn't normally want to give Jon Rahm a five-shot head start going into the weekend. Going to have to. So that's going to be a fun one to chase down. He's not known for falling apart, so going to have to play some really good golf again. See what I can do.

If he's going to win, at least push him all the way. I would love to see an Aussie winner individually here in Adelaide, whether it's this year or next year or at any point in the future.

You know, the team golf side of it is also quite important, too, and that's something that, like I said before, you're almost more interested in the team leaderboard than the individual out there at times.

Q. You've mentioned the home crowd, the home people, and I just have to bring in the Aussie/South Africa rivalry because we're taking it to the course in South Africa. We are really looking to not emulate but surpass what you guys are doing here. Just in terms of that, what does the South Africa/Australia rivalry mean to you as an Aussie and just the team aspect of it, which is clearly a South African thing as well as an Australian thing?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, I think it's a good rivalry that's developing. I think Australians have probably always had a pretty good rivalry with the English. We seem to be beating them a lot recently, and that rivalry is simmering down a bit because the South Africans are actually giving us a better run for our money.

I feel like, what are we, five weeks away, six weeks away from going to JoBurg? I'm really looking forward to it. I love South Africa. I've been there a handful of times and loved every time I've been there. I'm really looking forward to it.

Knowing as many people as I know from your country, SA, I know it'll be a good event. I know it'll be a big turnout. It'll be a lot of fun. I would expect something similar to here with good-quality banter in the crowd but also respect when good shots are played.

I'm just hoping there's some amnesia there from the playoff a couple years ago when we pipped you guys here. Yeah, I'm looking forward to heading out there, and I think you guys will do a great event. From all the conversations we're having internally in the league, I'm pretty excited.