This British Open Is in the Hunter's Hands, and Brian Harman Has Built His Career for This Moment
HOYLAKE, England — Standing in the fairway on the 18th hole in the quarterfinals of the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur, 15-year-old Brian Harman had a one-shot lead and promptly hit his tee shot in the water, losing the hole and eventually the match in 21 holes.
One year later Harman, a year older and seemingly wiser, beat Jordan Cox 5 and 4 to win the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur at Columbia Country Club, outside of Washington D.C.
Harman would proudly proclaim, “The choke has been avenged.”
Even back then Harman was preparing himself for adversity and eventual triumph.
To a large extent that was what happened in Saturday’s third round of the British Open, where Harman maintained his five-shot lead, but not without some hardship along the way.
Harman started the round adversely with two bogeys in the first four holes, only his second and third bogeys for the championship. Just like that, the left-hander seemed to be cracking under the pressure of a five-shot lead and the appearance of two-time major winner Jon Rahm on the leaderboard, who would eventually shoot a course-record 63.
Add in the fact that the 36-year-old was playing with local favorite Tommy Fleetwood, who birdied the 2nd hole to reduce Harman’s lead to three shots, and the future looked grim.
Harman then charged back with a birdie on the par-5 5th, an important up-and-down on the par-4 7th and a birdie on the par-3 10th. Harman had righted the ship and would make consecutive birdies on the 12th and 13th holes, along with a crucial par putt of nine feet at the last, to keep his streak of rounds in the 60s intact at Royal Liverpool and more importantly his lead.
“I mean, it would have been really easy to let the wheels start spinning and really kind of let it get out of control, but I just kind of doubled down on my routine and knew I was hitting it well, even though I hadn't hit any good shots yet,” Harmon said. “Staying patient out there is paramount. Sometimes it's a lot harder than others, but really proud of the way that I hung in there.”
Harman, a prolific hunter who learned to skin a deer when he was 8 years old, has been educating the British golf fans about one of his hobbies and the tabloids have been eating it up, calling Harmon “The Butcher of Hoylake” and "The Harmanator.” The first moniker has an interesting connotation considering that Harman’s five-shot lead is the largest 54-hole lead since Rory McIlroy's six-shot lead at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
Those same golf fans have been watching with some amazement as someone with a 5-foot-7, 150-pound frame has overpowered a course that has only been conquered by the best including Bobby Jones, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
“You'd be foolish not to envision, and I've thought about winning majors for my whole entire life,” Harman said of seeing the Claret Jug in his immediate future. “It's the whole reason I work as hard as I do and why I practice as much as I do and why I sacrifice as much as I do.”
At the same time Harman understands it doesn’t come easily; he can’t just show up and go through the motions, with Cameron Young five shots back and Rahm six.
“Tomorrow if that's going to come to fruition for me, it has to be all about the golf,” Harman said of winning. “It has to be execution and just staying in the moment.”
For Harman, that moment is one built over 14 years as a professional golfer: 340 events, 1,125 rounds, two wins, 50 top 10s and 234 made cuts.
It’s those experiences that molded Harman for what he will experience on Sunday in the final round of the Open.
“Inevitably as you progress through the game you have periods where you don't play well,” Harman said. “That's just part of the deal. I've been able to get off the mat a lot. I've played a lot of really good golf, and I've played a lot of bad golf, and I've been able to come back from some bad stretches, which I'm really proud of, too."