HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 28, 2023

Lucas Herbert

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. 67, right on the first page of the leaderboard. How are you feeling?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, I feel good. You know I was 1-over through nine holes. I was just thinking on the last green, I'm 1-over through nine holes, 8-under through 36. Happy with how I turned it around there. I still think I'm kind of rusty out there so sort of a good feeling going into the weekend. I feel like there's some stuff I can still work on to potentially make it better.

Q. Your first week back in 2023, does it feel like a bit of an unknown when you tee it up for the first time?

LUCAS HERBERT: Yeah, I think every year you try to find something new that is maybe going to be the difference for that season. Sort of worked on a few things over the off-season, and definitely it's yeah nerve wronging in the first couple rounds seeing whether they are a total flob or they worked really well.

Yeah, it's still that rust, as well. You're still a little bit rusty from the off-season. It's good to get back going and yeah, post those numbers.

Q. You were spending a lot of time on the PGA Tour. How hard or easy has it been for you to find a balance between the two? Sometimes guys find it difficult to pick-and-choose where to be and make sure they're game isn't suffering as a consequence?

LUCAS HERBERT: It's very difficult. Last season was tough. I feel like my game did suffer for it. I probably played too much through the year and it's just these events we're trained to play when we're a kid. You don't really want to turn your back on some of the events that five years ago, you'd have done anything to play in them, and now you're getting an exemption into them, and so to turn around and say no it's quite hard.

So I think that's something I learned from my first year playing both tours and something I'm going to take into this year as well. I want to be sharper on the weeks I do play and hopefully take advantage of them and play a bigger number of events.

Q. Is this an ideal tournament to come back to? Of course you never forget your first win, and of course I'm sure a lot of memories will flood back as you walk into the Emirates.

LUCAS HERBERT: A lot of good memories from here. It's one of those golf courses, I didn't think I played that well the first two rounds but just scored really well. For some reason it really suits my eye and suits my game. I just feel really comfortable here. I feel like I can't play bad around here. It's a good week to start on. I feel like you can ease your game into it and get some confidence going in the season.