The 25-year-old, a winner of the 2020 Omega Dubai Desert Classic, holds a one shot advantage over American Johannes Veerman. Scotland’s Grant Forrest is a single shot further back.

“It was a bit of a slow start, admitted Herbert. “Even sort of the first eight holes, I birdied 15, made a nice putt and then 17, hit it in there pretty tight for eagle and missed it. Even the first eight holes felt a little bit slow out there. (I was) only hitting the two-ball with Laurie. We just both felt like we are hitting it quite nice and couldn’t make any putts.

“I made a really long one on 18 for birdie and that kind of sparked things and got things going. Was able to play really nice that last nine holes. Felt like I was trying to get to 5- or 6-under and I didn’t really want to try and just attack really, really hard.”

Herbert, who achieved a 14^th place finish in last season’s Race to Dubai Rankings, carded an eight under par opening round at the sun-baked Kilkenny venue. Veerman in second achieved a bogey-free seven under 65 late in the day while Scot Grant Forrest signed for a six under par round of 66.

Ryder Cup starts high on the leaderboard

2012 European Ryder Cup players Martin Kaymer and Nicolas Colsaerts are next on the leaderboard, alongside fellow former Ryder Cup players Tommy Fleetwood, Thorbjørn Olesen and Andy Sullivan.They share fourth spot, on five under par, with a further nine players.

German Martin Kaymer was happy with his solid opening round, stating:

“I had a really solid start with five-under after ten holes and missed my tee shot on two. Still a bogey, which was fine. Then I struggled a little bit on the back nine, so the front nine of the golf course. Had a couple good chances coming in. Unfortunately missed a four-footer on the last for six-under would have been a really good score today. Five-under is fine, and I’m playing good golf.”

Colm Moriarty, a former Challenge Tour winner back in 2007, was the best of the Irish players on the opening day as he carded a four under par round. Reigning Open Champion Shane Lowry carded a two under par 70 and four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy opened his account with a 72.

Round One Scores:

64 L HERBERT (AUS),
65 J VEERMAN (USA),
66 G FORREST (SCO),
67 J SCRIVENER (AUS), C BEZUIDENHOUT (RSA), T FLEETWOOD (ENG), D WHITNELL (ENG), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP), A JOHNSTON (ENG), R RAMSAY (SCO), M KAYMER (GER), T DETRY (BEL), A SULLIVAN (ENG), N COLSAERTS (BEL), T OLESEN (DEN), A ARNAUS (ESP), G HAVRET (FRA), S CROCKER (USA),
68 V NORRMAN (SWE), A COCKERILL (CAN), M ARMITAGE (ENG), M LEE (AUS), S BROWN (ENG), J GUERRIER (FRA), C PAISLEY (ENG), R ROCK (ENG), K SAMOOJA (FIN), C MORIARTY (IRL), K APHIBARNRAT (THA), S JAMIESON (SCO), M KINHULT (SWE), A LEVY (FRA), A ROZNER (FRA), M KAWAMURA (JPN), F ZANOTTI (PAR), F LAPORTA (ITA),
69 J CATLIN (USA), R BLAND (ENG), P LARRAZABAL (ESP), J WALTERS (RSA), E MOLINARI (ITA), J DONALDSON (WAL), K KITAYAMA (USA), Z LOMBARD (RSA), M ANTCLIFF (AUS), A RAI (ENG), J HARDING (RSA), J HANSEN (DEN), A OTAEGUI (ESP), J SMITH (ENG), W BESSELING (NED), R MCEVOY (ENG), M JORDAN (ENG), C SYME (SCO), M KORHONEN (FIN), T PULKKANEN (FIN).

Irish Scores

70 S LOWRY
71 N KEARNEY
72 R MCILROY, P DUNNE
73 R LESTER, M POWER (AM), C SHARVIN
74 G MCDOWELL
75 G MOYNIHAN
76 J CALDWELL, P HARRINGTON
77 S THORNTON
78 C RAFFERTY (AM), N O’BRIAIN
82 R DAWSON

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The English veteran overcame young Italian Guido Migliozzi in a play-off to win the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willett.

In a dramatic final day at The Belfry, Bland showed incredible bravery twice over to clinch the victory. At the 72^nd hole he holed a monster birdie putt to finish 13 under after a six under 66.

Migliozzi had forced a play-off thanks to a four under 68. Bland once again showed his mettle. Having found a tricky lie from his drive in the first play-off hole, the 48-year-old pulled off a stunning five wood approach to leave a makeable two-putt.

Migliozzi, 50 yards further forward on the fairway from his own drive, proceeded to push his second shot to the right of the green. Bland rolled his birdie deftly to within three feet. His Italian counterpart raced his own birdie putt past the hole on the middle tier of the iconic green.

When Migliozzi missed his par putt, Bland knocked in for his four and for a career-defining triumph after numerous near-missed down the years. He moved to 14th in the Race to Dubai Rankings as a result.

The victory puts him in pole position for a chance to earn a place in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June. The top ten aggregate Race to Dubai points earners (not otherwise exempt) at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Danny Willet, Made in HimmerLand presented by FREJA and Porsche European Open will earn a place in the third Major Championship of the year.

“That’s what we all work for”

“It’s probably going to take a few days to sink in,” admitted Bland. “It’s what I’ve worked for for 20 years. That’s what we all work for, to win out here and try and prove yourself. I’ve had a few close calls and I assume someone up there was looking down on me quite favourably”

“I kept telling myself on the last I thought 13 under would be a really good score” Bland continued. “There was maybe two or three guys on 11. Especially if the weather stayed how it was. We played the last three holes in the worst of the weather as well. I thought if it stays like this then the par fives are playing pretty long. They’re not giveaway birdies. To hole that putt on the last, I don’t think I saw it go in. I knew it was in with about a foot to go. I think I turned to the left to celebrate before it had even gone in. I’d have looked silly if it’d missed. Fortunately it went in” said the relieved European Tour winner.

“Finally I can go off that list of most starts without a win. A big incentive for me was that I wanted to get to 500 events, this will allow me to do that, which I’ll be hugely proud of. To play 500 events out here is a pretty good career.”

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