Brian Harman Player Profile And What's In The Bag
By: Derek Clements | Mon 24 Jul 2023
BRIAN HARMAN destroyed a world-class field to win the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool by an astonishing SIX shots.
Few people would have tipped the left-handed American to land his first major but he found fairways all week and putted like a god. He may be a surprise winner but he deserved it. This is a golf course that calls for strategy and while the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy tried to blast it into submission with huge drives, Harman knew that the sensible approach was to keep the ball in play.
And he did that in style, recording rounds of 67, 65, 69 and 70, for a four-round total of 271, 13 under par. He was the only man in the field to break par in all four rounds.
World number three Rahm finished joint second on seven under with Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day. McIlroy ended six under, while Matthew Jordan and Tommy Fleetwood were England's best, tied on four under.
Harman, 36, becomes just the third left-hander to win the Claret Jug - emulating Bob Charles in 1963 and Phil Mickelson in 2013.
The victory is just the third in his career, and first since 2017.
He only found two bunkers all week and holed 59 out of 60 putts from inside 10 feet and had no three putts .
"This golf course was a real test, it was set up so great - even with the weather. The greens were perfect, the golf course was excellent," said Harman, who pledged to drink a "couple of pints" from the Claret Jug. "I couldn't be happier to be the champion. To all the fans, all the nice words, and all the fans back home rooting me on I appreciate it so much. Thank you."
Harman's lead never dropped below three despite bogeys on the second and fifth holes, the latter coming after he drove his ball into a gorse bush.
At that point Rahm was his closest challenger, three back on seven under. But Harman responded magnificently with successive birdies on the sixth and seventh holes, while world number three Rahm stumbled with a bogey on the ninth.
But for most of the day, Harman was out of sight. Those behind were jousting for second.
Straka birdied the 16th to get to eight under, the lowest of any of those challenging, but he bogeyed the last to post a 69 and join South Korean Kim, who had four birdies and an eagle in a four-under 67, the joint lowest round of the day.
Player Profile
Brian Harman was born in Savannah, Georgia on January 19, 1987. He was a fine amateur golfer, playing in the Walker Cup in 2005 and 2009 and the Palmer Cup in 2007. Golf is the only thing he does left-handed.
He turned professional in 2010 and started off on the little-known eGolf Tour, finishing in the top 10 in 11 of 14 starts.
He qualified for his first major, the US Open, in 2012 - five years later he was second in the same tournament, having held the 54-hole lead. He had a final round of 72 to lose out to Brooks Koepka.
His first PGA Tour win came at the 2014 John Deere Classic. The following year he held the 54-hole lead at the Travelers Championship but eventually finished one behind winner Bubba Watson. In August 2015, Harman had two holes in one and the same round at The Barclays. In 2017 he won the Wells Fargo Championship at Eagle Point, holing a 30-footer on the final green to pip Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez. He won the QBE Shootout with Patton Kizzire in 2018.
Since Harman’s win at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship, 2,268 days ago, he had made 167 starts and recorded 32 top-10 finishes.
He finished second at the Mayakoba Championship in 2022 and the following week was tied runner-up at the RSM Classic.
This season he had missed eight cuts before arriving at Royal Liverpool but had also had three runner-up finishes. In 339 starts he had made 234 cuts and enjoyed 23 top-five finishes and 50 top-10 finishes.
His caddie, Scott Tway, is the brother of former PGA champion Bob Tway.
His career earnings now stand at around $31m.
Ahead of The Open he was 18th in the FedEx Cup and 26th in the world rankings. He is now 10th in the world rankings and sixth in the FedEx Cup standings.
Last 10 Events
The 151st Open - 1st
Genesis Scottish Open - T12th
Rocket Mortgage Classic - T9th
Travelers Championship - T2nd
US Open - T43rd
The Memorial Tournament - CUT
Charles Schwab Challenge - T29th
US PGA Championship - CUT
Wells Fargo Championship - CUT
RBC Heritage - T7th
Key Stats (PGA Tour: 2022/23)
Driving Distance - 294.1 Yards
Driving Accuracy - 67.22%
Greens in Regulation - 67.73%
Sand Saves - 61.62%
Putts Per Round - 28.63
Scoring Average - 69.56
End of Year World Ranking
2020: 91
2021: 61
2022: 24
What's Brian Harman's Golf Bag?
Driver: Titleist TSi2 (9 Degrees)
Fairway Wood: Titleist TS2 (13.5 Degrees)
Irons: Titleist U•500 (3-5), Titleist 620 CB (6-PW)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50, 54, 60 Degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Daddy Long Legs
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
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Tags: WITB Tour Pro The Open player profile PGA Tour in the bag Brian Harman
