Herbert eyes Masters ahead of Aust swing

Drinking on a yacht off Miami helped dull the pain, but Lucas Herbert was still filthy after missing President's Cup selection this year.

The world No.55 will line up in the Australian PGA Championship at Brisbane's Royal Queensland from Thursday.

The Australian Open will follow, the two events an opportunity for Herbert to sneak back inside the top 50 and book a return to the Masters next April.

That is where he feels he belongs after another solid year split between Europe's DP World Tour and the PGA Tour.

It would also provide a platform to prove himself worthy of the President's Cup nod in 2024 that eluded him this year.

With LIV Golf converts Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann among those ineligible, there were spots on offer to play at Quail Hollow in September.

But captain Trevor Immelman overlooked the three-time winner across Europe and US, as well as in-form New Zealander Ryan Fox and South Africa's Erik van Rooyen.

The Internationals threatened a boilover before the stacked United States outfit registered a ninth-straight win.

"I was really pissed off I didn't make that team," Herbert said on Wednesday in Brisbane. 

"I thought I had a lot to offer and I felt like my form was decent leading up to it. 

"I didn't think I was out of form, so I was pretty disappointed when I got the call."

So was it tough to watch?

"To be honest, I was sat on a yacht in Miami drinking, so I didn't find it that tough to watch," he said.

"They went a lot off the stats and a lot off the numbers, and those guys suited that golf course the best. Obviously a couple of them didn't play the way they would have liked that week."

Herbert plans to split his time between both tours next season, and knows a good showing in either Brisbane or at Melbourne's Open in a high-quality field will help.

"My game's trending in the right direction at the moment, so whether it's at Christmas or one of the next cut-offs for the world rankings, I will be playing at Augusta in April, I'd like to think that," he said.

"I can't control everything but I do feel like there's not as much pressure as probably what it looks like."