By Evin Priest
There are two simple reasons why Lucas Herbert will not defend his title at the PGA Tour’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship this week: He’s a member of the wedding party for a close friend who is getting married in his native Australia, and he’s also taking some rest before a last-minute bid to make the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Herbert won last year’s Bermuda event at Port Royal Golf Club, holding off a late-charging Patrick Reed. It was Herbert’s maiden tour PGA Tour win after two career wins on the DP World Tour.

“I had my friend’s wedding, and I was in the groom’s party, and that was it for me in the US this year. I’m not going to head back to the States until the new year,” Herbert told Golf Digest over the phone from his hometown of Bendigo. “I would have loved to have defended. Hopefully I get back there in years to come.”

Herbert won the Irish Open on the DP World Tour in 2021 before transitioning to the PGA Tour, where he earned his card through Korn Ferry Finals before winning quickly in Bermuda in the autumn. But Herbert has only played five DP World Tour events this year, including the Open Championship in which he finished tied for 15th, and so his Race to Dubai ranking has dropped to 60th. As such, Herbert will head to South Africa next month to compete in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in a bid to climb inside the top 50 who qualify for the DP World Tour finale in Dubai a week later. Herbert has a good record in Dubai, having won the Dubai Desert Classic in 2020, albeit on a different course.

“Those two tournaments are really special. I love playing the Nedbank, and Dubai is a great place to play,” he said. “It means a lot to be among the best 50 DP World Tour players who make that final. I’ll probably need a really good result at the Nedbank to jump inside the top 50, but I’m confident I can do it.”

Should Herbert qualify for the DP World Tour finale, the 26-year-old will head straight back to Australia to contest the Australian PGA Championship the next week, at Royal Queensland in Brisbane. Then he’ll tee up in the Australian Open, which will be held across two iconic Melbourne Sandbelt courses, Victoria Golf Club and Kingston Heath in early December.

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