Australian Golfers Chase Extra Incentive At New Zealand Open

Now engaged to girlfriend Erica after popping the question at Skyline overlooking Lake Wakatipu, the LIV golfer, currently ranked third on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, is hunting down the No.1, Elvis Smylie, at Millbrook Resort starting on Thursday.

Smylie, the Australian PGA champion, comes into the week with a 512-point lead, but he can be overtaken, or alternatively he can secure the title, with 760 points to be awarded to the winner on Sunday.

Herbert, the 2024 NSW Open champion, would love to tick off three items on his hitlist – winning the New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport after coming close in 2020; earning The Open Championship berth which goes to the victor and claiming the Order of Merit for the first time.

Currently, both Herbert and Smylie don’t have a major on their 2025 schedule – or an Order of Merit title.

“There’s certainly a lot going on this week and to be honest, it’s a week that I’ve looked forward to for a few weeks now, because I knew this challenge would come up,” Herbert said.

“There’s not much I can do about Elvis this week. If he plays well, he’s probably going to put the Order of Merit too far away for any of us to catch.

“If I win, I will give myself the best chance to obviously win that order of merit. So that’s the focus.”

Back on his home tour for the first time since the ISPS HANDA Australian Open, Smylie knows he’s a hunted man this week as he tries to consolidate his hold on No.1 or even clinch the OOM title by winning on Sunday afternoon.

“It was a goal of mine at the start of the season last October – to win the order of Merit and the accolades that do come with winning the Order of Merit are quite big.

“Two out of the four majors, potentially more. It’s a dream of mine to play majors. It’s a dream of mine to compete against the best players in the world and to see where my game adds up and I’ve just got to keep playing well and keep giving myself opportunities.

“It’s exciting though to have the opportunity that I have. It’s obviously a position I’ve put myself in by playing great golf over the past seven months. We’ll see what happens this week and let it be.”

Both Herbert and Smylie have back-up plans should the battle for No.1 not be decided this week.

The current leader has targeted the season-ending The National Tournament (March 27-30), while Herbert may line up at the Heritage Classic (March 20-23) should he still be able to clinch top spot.

This week’s event features 18 of the top 20 on the Order of Merit with only Herbert’s fellow LIC teammates Cam Smith (No.2) and Marc Leishman (No.4) not making the trip to New Zealand.

While Smylie and Herbert are favourites to earn the 2024/25 OOM title, there’s still a chance it could go to any player currently inside the top 10 should results go their way.

However, plenty of those will drop out of contention without a win at Millbrook Resort.

The 104th New Zealand Open presented by Sky Sport begins on Thursday with a cut for the top 60 players plus ties to compete over the final two rounds at the weekend at Millbrook Resort chasing a total prize-purse of NZ$2 million.

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