Two years ago, he famously slept in the family car in a golf club car park after being driven overnight from Melbourne then qualified for the Australian Open.
Last year, he begged his way in with some cheeky tweets after spotting himself in an Australian Open TV promo, then shared the first-round lead.
This year, halfway leader Lucas Herbert got in on form - he's 11th on the Australasian tour money list - and feels like he really belongs, even if he hasn't considered what winning on Sunday would mean to him.
"Geez, you are asking me questions I haven't even thought about the answer to," Herbert said. "It's everyone's dream to win their home Open, isn't it?"
The 21-year-old Victorian long-hitter is a character but he's also a feel-good story as a grafting home-tour pro coming good.
A $40,000 cheque for finishing second in last week's NSW Open - at 18 under par - got his finances for the year out of the red.
But the former amateur star admits the life and challenges of an average young tour pro came as a rude shock.
"As an amateur you stand on the first tee and you could hit it in a five yard slot. Then you stand up there as a pro and it's for your living," he said.
"You're like 'please hit the ball, please make contact and don't be a YouTube hit'.
"For most guys, (another big challenge is) working out who is in your team and who's there for the right reasons, especially friends.
"I will look at my phone in 10 minutes' time and there will be 50 messages and 45 are from people you don't hear from until you start playing well and they see you on TV.
"Find the guys who message you when you finish fourth last in a tournament and just want to go out and drink every single beverage in the vicinity of the town you are in.
"Leaving the amateur ranks you see guys like (ex amateur stars) Curtis (Luck) and Ryan Ruffels getting invites on tour, flying in private jets everywhere, staying in five-star hotels and you think that's what you are going to get and then you turn pro and you are so horribly mistaken.
"You are like, 'I am playing a pro-am for how much again?"
