European Tour

Portugal Masters 2018

September 20-23

Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal

€2,000,000

Live leaderboard

September 20-23

Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, Vilamoura, Portugal

€2,000,000

Live leaderboard

Round 1

Herbert takes the lead in Portugal

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

September , 2018

Lucas Herbert equalled the lowest round of his European Tour career to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.

- Getty Images

“For most of the start of the year my form was quite sporadic, I could shoot eight under but I could also shoot a couple over and throw a double and a triple in there. I've been a lot more consistent lately. I haven't made as many big numbers and at least limited the damage to bogeys."

“There's a lot of pressure coming in to this time of the year. Most of the other guys will probably get more starts than me to finish off the year so there's probably a bit of pressure on me to play well."

“I think I've had that pressure all year and I've dealt with it pretty well. Obviously today was a good indication that it's going alright so hopefully I can just continue that form.”

England's Eddie Pepperell and Matt Wallace had set the target at seven under par with bogey-free rounds of 64 during a low scoring morning, and for most of the afternoon it looked as though they would share the lead going into round two in Vilamoura.

“I managed to get out of the first two with two pars and then chipped in on 12, which was nice to get the tournament going" said Wallace. "Got a bit of work to do on the swing. Didn't feel too comfortable out there. A couple of left shots which I haven't had for the last few weeks, so I'm going to go and work on that."

"The good thing about it is that it wasn't fantastic out there, it wasn't great, but I grinded out there. I knew certain shots what I had to do with my swing to hit that particular shot and I chipped and putted well. I chipped in twice today, so that was great.”

But Australian Herbert went one better with another bogey-free round of 63 to get to eight under par, with 2012 Portugal Masters champion Shane Lowry also joining Pepperell and Wallace at one shot off the lead. In a good omen for Irishman Lowry, his caddie Bo Martin has won twice before on this course, alongside defending champion Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark and Frenchman Alex Levy in 2014.

“I'm obviously very happy," said Lowry, "64 any day is very good. I've had four weeks off so it was nice to come back and shoot a good score. Looking forward to tomorrow now."

“My caddie has won twice around here. He's just started working with me this week, so it's our first day on the job. I suppose there's only one way to go from here, that's the only thing!"

“I've won here, I had my first professional win, so very fond memories. I love coming back down here to play and I come down on holiday quite a lot. I love it here.”

Herbert's round of 63 matched his final-round total from the Rocco Forte Sicilian Open where he finished in a tie for third, one of four top tens this season that have helped him to 103rd on the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex as he seeks a first full campaign on Tour in 2019.

China's Li Haotong is two shots off the lead at six under par, a shot clear of a group of ten players which includes 2017 Masters Tournament champion Sergio Garcia of Spain, Italian Renato Paratore and French pair Raphaël Jacquelin and Adrien Saddier.