SYDNEY, Australia -- Jordan Spieth is fast disappearing from Jason Day's rear vision mirror but a little-known battler from Victoria, who knows everything about the tough side of the golf game, is continuing to be a serious irritation as Day attempts to win his first Australian Open tournament.
Before the third round, Day said that having a seven-stroke lead over Spieth was nowhere near enough to feel safe on an unforgiving Australian golf course.
"Hopefully I don't see him in my rear vision mirror," Day explained on Friday night.
While Spieth was stuck in neutral on Saturday to stay among the pack, Day had to instead counter a player of little renown, who under difficult conditions, showed exceptional resolve and composure to keep his round intact to ensure for the second day running they will be the last group off tomorrow.
Lucas Herbert is a long, lean and clearly hungry 21-year-old, who has done it rough in his opening years as a professional, including sleeping in cars to play at qualifying tournaments or begging for starts in events via Twitter, as he explained after taking the lead during the second round: "Money, I haven't got much of that."
"I was really struggling on the Friday of tournaments because I knew that was cut day. When the bank balance is down, Friday starts getting pretty nervous," Herbert said.
As for nerves, that was nothing compared with having to play on a Saturday with the mighty Day. Did he enjoy a good overnight sleep? Hardly.
"I was so nervous out there on the first tee. I really don't how I could have slept before that," Herbert said.
"It was like drinking three cans of Red Bull and then trying to go to bed. I don't know whether it was more nerves or excitement. I just didn't want to be a Youtube hit with a bad drive off the first. But after making a few pars early on that kicked the nerves."
There were some gnarly moments. He began better than Day, but when the wind blew on the back nine Herbert suffered a lost ball on the 11th par three hole, which forced him to head back to the tee before enduring a double bogey. Then the next hole, his drive drifted way off course.
This was the moment when a young golfer not accustomed to large galleries, leading a major tournament and accompanied by one of the world's best could have easily lost his bearings. But a mighty chip got Herbert back on track.
"What happened there didn't really bother me. I was kind of in the zone," Herbert said.
"Things were happening out there, and it was if I was watching myself do it. I wasn't getting too caught up in making that double bogey. I was more happy with what I did with the second ball. There's no need to get too stressed about it."
Herbert certainly looked composed around the course, happily spending many fairways chatting and laughing away with Day. It was as if they were childhood buddies. Instead it was the first time they had met.
"I asked Jason a lot of questions, and he was really good about it. I had a list of questions and he didn't mind. He's obviously a good guy," Herbert said. Day's impression?
"Lucas is very strong and showed a lot of maturity."
As for that better known name-Spieth- on the final day, Day said: "He will need a lot of help from the leaders, and will need to play well," Day said. So the rear vision mirror will be kept in the golf bag.
"Right now I'm not really focusing on Jordan. I'm trying to focus on Lucas. After what happened to him on the 11th hole, things could have easily spiralled out of control, and it looked like it was going to, with his wayward drive on the next hole. But he got it back. He retained his composure. He's pretty impressive," Day said.
Going into the final day, Day boasts an impressive statistic. In five of his last six PGA Tour tournaments where he has held the lead after 54 holes, he has converted that into a tournament victory. He appeared very happy that someone mentioned that during that his media gathering. A good omen.