Robert TheodorsonLucas Herbert has just achieved his second wire-to-wire win on the 2026 LIV Golf season.
The champion came into LIV UK showing elite form, shooting a record tying 62 at The Open at Royal Birkdale just one week ago.
As if it was a foregone conclusion after his 11-under par opening round, Lucas Herbert held firm with three additional incredible rounds including a 10-under par final round, holding off challengers Tyrrell Hatton (2nd ; 24-under par) and Bryson DeChambeau (3rd ; 21-under par).
“I knew it wasn’t going to be a day where even par, 1-under was going to get it done for me. I knew I had to go out there and get it. Just kept pushing myself the whole way, and here we are… It was one of those weeks, just when you needed a good break.
I played great this week, but also, I got a lot of good breaks, which is really nice. It’s good to take advantage of those when they come.” – Herbert, Ripper GC
“Last week gave me a lot of confidence that I can mix it with the best guys,” he said. “Just wanted to really carry that into this week the best I could. I think I got out of my own way the first two rounds and I started thinking about it yesterday. It was just good to play like that today when I was being pushed by two of the best players in the world.”
Not only did Herbert dominant at JCB Golf and Country Club, in doing so he broke the individual tournament scoring record.
Before the league changed course and adopted the traditional 72-hole format, it was Tyrrell Hatton and Brooks Koepka who held the league record for 19-under par after 54 holes. Since that change, Herbert has bested Bryson DeChambeau and his 26-under par score at LIV South Africa.
Herbert finished the tournament at 30-under par after rounds of 61-66-69-62. Along the way, he also set the League record for most birdies in a single tournament with 30, and the record for most combined birdies and eagles in a tournament with 32.
Now with his second wire-to-wire win on the season, the first being LIV Virginia, paired with his masterclass showing at The Open, Herbert has to be in the conversation for LIV Golf player of the year arguments. Although he does have some ground to make up in chasing Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, an outright season-long individual win is not out of the question.
Former LIV UK champions Joaquin Niemann (2025) and Jon Rahm (2024) failed to crack the Top 10, a rarity, especially for two-time league champion Jon Rahm who has only finished outside the Top 10 once before in his LIV Golf career.
Cam Smith (4th; 17-under par) and unsung heroes Caleb Surratt (T5; 14-under par) and Charles Howell III (T7; 13-under par) took care of business behind the scenes to ensure top finishes for their respective teams.
Smith’s impressive tournament, capped by his record-tying streak of eight consecutive birdies on Saturday, was rewarded with a solo fourth finish at 17-under after a closing 3-under 69.
Tyrrell Hatton gave the home crowd an Englishman in the running to root for, closing with a bogey-free 9-under 63 to finish runner-up at 24-under.
“Obviously Lucas played amazing today. I wanted to get off to a fast start, which is what I did, but unfortunately Lucas did as well,” Hatton said. “I’m very proud of how I played. It would have been amazing to win in front of home fans, but I tried my best. But actually, Lucas was incredible this week.”
On the team front, Ripper sprinted to an easy team win backed behind the magical performances of Herbert, Smith, and Leishman. The Australians’ cumulative score of 52-under par was four strokes better than second place Legion XIII.
“…We just had a lot of fun. It wasn’t just me that enjoyed the week. Everyone enjoyed the week quite a bit. It was nice to have us all win and obviously me play well on top of that, too, to kind of validate having a lot of fun and that being a good thing.” – Herbert, Ripper GC
“…He’s a great teammate. He wants to do everything to make the team better. He’s a great golfer, as well, and he showed it the last few events. The confidence that he has at the moment, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ticks off another one or two before the end of the year.” — Smith, Ripper GC on teammate Lucas Herbert
“The great thing about this is you don’t really think about the individual stuff when your team is right up there. You’re looking at where the team is and what you can do to help the team.Obviously that helps you individually, as well. Yeah, that’s one thing I particularly loved about this week.It’s so much fun to be able to enjoy a good week with people who are equally as happy as you.” — Leishman, Ripper GC
“…This is the team I’ve always wanted to play on, being Aussie. All the boys, the whole team is Australian, so it’s like a dream come true, honestly. I didn’t play well this week, but obviously everyone else had unbelievable weeks. To be able to get up on that podium and lift a trophy with the boys is unbelievable.” — Smyth, Ripper GC
DeChambeau’s Crushers and Rahm’s Legion XIII spent much of the final round in a rubber match, bouncing back and forth as to who would claim second place on the podium. Top performers Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton did most of the scoring for their respective teams, but just could not keep pace with Lucas Herbert’s masterclass performance which just kept pumping up the score for Ripper all throughout the day.
Legion XIII ultimately finished second at 48-under, with Crushers GC third at 42-under.
LIV Golf returns to action August 6 – 9 at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, the site of the 3rd ever LIV Golf tournament and won by Cam Smith.
