The Australian broke the JCB Golf and Country Club course record by one shot at Rocester, England, when he birdied No.16, but settled for pars on 17 and 18 to short-circuit his bid to break 60.
"I actually hit a poor putt on 16 and underread it and it went in," Herbert said. "Then hit a good putt on 17 and it missed and forgot to hit the ball on 18. 'Pughy' left the head cover on."
Leaving aside Herbert jokingly blaming caddie Nick Pugh for coming up short at 18, Thursday's round marked the second time in seven days that Herbert finished a brilliant round with a missed putt on the final hole with history at stake.
On Friday at Royal Birkdale, Herbert tied the record for lowest round in a major with his 62. Though he missed a five-footer for par at No.18 that would have claimed the record for himself, the 30-year-old still claimed the Open lead after 36 holes to set up his best finish in a major.
Herbert opened his round birdie-birdie-birdie and finished with nine birdies, one eagle and no bogeys.
"Yeah, just continuing on that fun momentum from last week at The Open," Herbert said. "It's nice when those putts roll in and golf feels the way it does right now."
Bryson DeChambeau, who also enjoyed most of his Open experience, stands second after a roller-coaster 64. He started with three birdies before suffering a bogey at No.4 and making eagle at No.6. He added four straight birdies on the back nine before a bogey landed him at eight under for the day.
Herbert and DeChambeau will go head-to-head in the final group on Friday. That was the plan for the third round of The Open, too, until DeChambeau was assessed a two-stroke penalty in the second round for alleged shenanigans in the rough on the fifth hole.
"Like (the pairing) is a week late?" DeChambeau said. "Look, golf is golf, right? I wish we could have gone to battle last week. It wasn't that way.
"But life goes on. There's moments of adversity in everybody's life, and I was passionate about what I believed and thought was right.
"For me, it's now in a place that it is what it is, and you keep moving through it. You keep moving past it."
Harold Varner III and England's Tyrell Hatton share third place at six under while Canada's Richard T. Lee and South Korea's Byeong Hun An are another stroke back.
Marc Leishman is the next best-placed Australian. His four-under 68 leaves him tied seventh and a shot ahead of compatriot Cameron Smith.
Travis Smyth had a one-under 71.
Team Ripper, boosted by Herbert's 61, lead the team standings at 19-under, four ahead of Crushers.
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