Remembering Brian Harman's Dominant Open Triumph at Hoylake

Brian Harman not only won The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023 - he did so by destroying a world-class field with a near-flawless performance on the greens.

He overcame an early wobble to stroll to his first major title with a six-shot victory.

A one-under 70 proved more than enough for the American, who finished on 13 under at a rain-soaked Hoylake.

Spain’s Jon Rahm finished joint second on seven under with Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day. Rory McIlroy ended six under, while Matthew Jordan and Tommy Fleetwood were England's best, tied on four under.

It was a fairytale week for Harman. The 36-year-old, ranked 26th in the world, became only the third left-hander to win the Claret Jug - emulating Bob Charles in 1963 and Phil Mickelson in 2013.

The victory, which saw him collect £2.3m, was just the third in his career, and first since 2017.

And he did it by plotting his way round the links in superb fashion. He only went in two bunkers all week - one of them on the 72nd - holed 59 out of 60 putts from inside 10 feet and had no three putts.

He said: "I knew I had a six-shot lead on the 18th, I was ready to putt it down that fairway. To get it done on the biggest stage, it's what you dream about as a kid.

"I've always thought about holding this trophy. From my cold, dead fingers it is going to be tough to get it out of my hands."

The champion, who pledged to drink "a couple of pints" from the Claret Jug, added: "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. I couldn't be happier to be the champion. To all the fans, all the nice words, and all the fans back home tooting 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 into a gorse bush, seeing him drop to 10 under.

At that point Rahm, who had birdied the fifth, was his closest challenger as the rain that had threatened all week finally arrived. Harman responded with birdies on the sixth and seventh holes to reassert his dominance, while 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. Around the same time Harman was dropping a shot on the short 13th, with his only missed putt from inside 10 feet of the week.

However, once again the American responded with successive birdies to stamp out any final hope for the chasing pack.

Straka 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. Rahm birdied the last to climb into a share of second, alongside Australia's Day who had four birdies and two bogeys in his 69 as he crept up the leaderboard to record his best finish in an Open Championship.

Cameron Young, who started the day as Harman's nearest challenger, faded with a 73 and five-under total, while Viktor Hovland also shot a 73 to end three under.

It was also a dream week for Jordan, who was on the Royal Liverpool chipping green at the age of three and became a member aged seven. The R&A gave him the honour of hitting the opening tee shot and he birdied the last to card a one-under-par final round that lifted him into the top 10 and qualified him for Royal Troon in 2024.

"Normally I just see players on TV and think 'that'd be cool if it happened to me'," he said. "It was just the perfect finish to what has been the most unbelievable week." 

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