SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda - Lucas Herbert made two birdies during the toughest, wind-blown stretch of Port Royal and held steady to the end Sunday for a 2-under-par 69 to win the Butterfield Bermuda Championship.
Herbert closed with four pars to hold off fellow Australian Danny Lee (71) and 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, who finished with four birdies over his last six holes for a 65 and then waited to see if it would be enough.
The 25-year-old Herbert, who won the Irish Open earlier this year, stayed in front by closing with two good par saves while missing a pair of seven-foot birdie attempts he wound up not needing as he finished at 15-under 269, one ahead of Lee and Reed.
His first PGA Tour victory, and third worldwide, sends him to the Masters for the first time.
"It opens up so many doors," said Herbert, who earned his PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals two months ago and missed the cut in his other two starts to this 2021-22 season.
Patrick Rodgers (70) finished fourth at 13 under, and Canada's Taylor Pendrith - the 54-hole leader by three shots - failed to make a birdie while closing with a 76 to tie for fifth with Scott Stallings at 12 under. Stallings, who started 14 shots behind and tied for 50th, began his round on No. 10 and pulled to within two shots before running out of birdies in a 62.
Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger tied for 20th at 8 under. The former Baylor School and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout from Germany shook off an early bogey with three birdies, but a double bogey on the par-4 15th hole neutralized those gains as he finished with a 71.
The wind and rain, which caused tee times to be moved up, was as fierce as advertised, and play was halted briefly without having to bring the players off the course.
"I felt like I grinded really well early and I had the right attitude going into the day that it wasn't going to be easy," Herbert said. "You just knew it was going to be one of those days where you had to battle really, really hard. Under par was going to be a great score."
Pendrith had three straight bogeys starting at No. 6 and was still very much in the mix, one shot behind going to the reachable par-5 17th. But he pulled his drive into the water, hit his third shot into the water and missed a five-footer before taking a double bogey.
He wasn't the only player who can look back at missed chances.
Lee had a one-shot lead and appeared to be in control of his game until it all fell apart for him on the 12th hole. He went long of the green, pitched to the back collar and then used a fairway metal to bump his shot about seven feet by the cup, missing that to take a double bogey.
Herbert rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt and went from one shot behind to the lead. After a bogey on the par-3 13th, he made a 30-foot birdie putt to get to 15-under par.
Reed - at No. 24 the highest-ranked player in the field - was well ahead of them and didn't appear to be in the mix until he knocked in a pair of 30-foot birdie putts, made a 12-foot par putt on the par-3 16th and finished with two birdies.
Lee followed his double bogey with a pair of bogeys before making one last push. He birdied the next three holes, sending his tee shot on the par-3 16th out over the ocean and letting the wind bring it back to 15 feet.
Trailing Herbert by one on the 18th, Lee missed the green and had to get up and down for par. Herbert played wisely and conservatively, using his power to lean on a driving iron on the final two holes that eliminated trouble.
"This finishing stretch kind of played into my hands a little bit," Herbert said. "I felt like probably the strengths of my game - the longer game, whether it be long irons or 3-woods, drivers off tee - I felt like that really played in my wheelhouse. So I just tried to really stay positive with the swings."