HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman looks on during Day Four of The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 23, 2023. | Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Harman claimed his first major championship at The 151st Open Championship, as he showed tremendous guts at Royal Liverpool to win.
As the best players in the world struggled Sunday at Royal Liverpool, Brian Harman showed why he deserved to win the Claret Jug.
He showed tremendous resilience, bounced back with a vengeance multiple times, and carded a 1-under 70 en route to his first major championship victory. He finished the tournament at 13-under par.
No other player was within six shots of him.
Harman decimated the rest of the field, proving that he is one of the best players in the world. He may have even earned a spot on the American Ryder Cup team, a deserving recognition for the now champion golfer of the year.
The former Georgia Bulldog almost went wire-to-wire at the 151st Open Championship, as he has been the talk of the town in Northwestern England since Friday morning.
Playing through windy conditions, Harman had the best round of the championship Friday, shooting a 6-under 65 on a day when the course average was north of 2-over 73.
Photo by David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images
HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman putts on the 2nd green during day two of The Open at Royal Liverpool on July 21, 2023.
He slept on the 36-hole lead, holding a five shot advantage, but he did not let the pressure of major championship golf get to him.
On Saturday, Harman appeared to stumble out of the gate, bogeying two of the first four holes to drop back to 8-under for the championship.
Many felt he would continue to fall down the leaderboard.
After all, Harman has not won a tournament since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship.
But the 26th-ranked player in the world proved that he would not falter under pressure.
He quickly righted the ship at the easy par-5 5th, as he went on to make three more birdies the rest of the way to shoot a stress-free 2-under 69.
Similar sentiments could be felt Sunday, as a relentless rain drenched Royal Liverpool and the Open Championship field.
Harman was not bothered by it, even though like Saturday, he bogeyed two holes early in his round: the par-4 2nd and the par-5 5th.
At the 5th, Harman rifled his tee-shot into a gorse bush, which forced him to take an unplayable penalty.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman reacts as they look for their ball in the rough on the 5th hole on Day Four of The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 23, 2023.
He could have easily made a double or worse, but Harman played the hole conservatively en route to a bogey.
On the very next hole, at the par-3 6th, Harman relied on his resilience—that chip on his shoulder that Padraig Harrington alluded to Friday—to stick a long iron to just 13 feet.
Harman drained the putt, squashing any hope for anyone else pursuing him from behind, which included the likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, and Tommy Fleetwood.
Then, at the tough par-4 7th, Harman made another birdie. At that point, you could have started to engrave his name into the Claret Jug.
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HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman celebrates after putting on the 14th green on Day Four of The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 23, 2023.
He made so many big time putts this week, proving that strong play on the greens is of utmost importance at major championships.
Harman ranked first in strokes gained: putting, gaining almost 12 shots on the field with his flat stick. He missed just one putt inside of ten feet all week and did not three-putt once.
The left-hander had an all-time great week with his putter, as Justin Ray of The Athletic pointed out:
Brian Harman is The 151st Open champion.
His 106 putts this week are the fewest by an Open winner the last 20 years.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) July 23, 2023
On the back-nine, Harman continued to play flawlessly, except for a brief slip-up at the par-3 13th.
He missed a par putt from seven-feet, but yet again, Harman bounced back with consecutive birdies at the par-4 14th and par-5 15th.
By this juncture, Harman only had one thing left to do: to try and stay as dry as possible on the walk to the Claret Jug.
His performance at Royal Liverpool this week will go down as one of the most dominant performances in recent major championship history.
Some of the best players in the world, such as Rahm and McIlroy, were fooled by the winds roaring off the Irish Sea and by the weather that greatly impacted the iconic Royal Liverpool layout.
Harman was not, and that’s why he stands tall as the 2023 Champion Golfer of the Year.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
