Brian Harman enters Open Championship final round with big lead
Former Georgia golfer Brian Harman is headed into the final day at The Open Championship in first place and with a five shot lead over the field. Harman, who entered Saturday with the same size lead, shot a two-under-par 69 to maintain his position atop the leaderboard after a strong first two days. He is at 12-under-par for the tournament.
On Saturday at Royal Liverpool, Harman bogeyed two of his first holes before righting the ship with a birdie on the fifth hole. He followed that up with another on No. 9 before making two straight on a bogey-free back nine.
Harman shot a four-under-par 67 on Thursday with just one bogey on the scorecard to open the tournament before lighting the course up on Friday with a 65. He went out and made birdies on four straight holes 2-5 as a part of a 31 before making 12 straight pars to bring him to the 18th. There he made an incredible eagle to secure the tournament’s low round to that point. Jon Rahm has since topped it with a 63 on Saturday to get back in contention after shooting 74, 70 on the first two days.
“Left foot, right foot. I knew I was hitting it well, I had a great warmup this morning so I was just trying to be as patient as I could but it’s hard. It’s really hard,” Harman told NBC about his early-round struggles. “There’s a lot of thoughts, a lot of nerves. It was nice to hit some really nice shots.”
“I’m going to go hit a few, find something agreeable to eat and get to bed early, maybe read a book. I won’t be looking at my phone,” Harman added when asked what his preparation for the final round will look like. “… I’m going to hit every shot the best that I can. If I play every shot into some areas, I won’t be looking at the leaderboard. It’s fantastic (style of golf). You have to be really creative, and I hit some creative shots today. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll make a couple more putts and have a nice day.”
Harman has four professional wins to his name including a pair on the PGA Tour. His last victory came in 2018 at the QBE Shootout alongside teammate Patton Kizzire. Only once has Harman finished top five at a major, tying for second place in the 2017 U.S. Open after he held the 54-hole lead. His only other top-10 finish came last year at The Open Championship, tying for sixth place.
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Harman was a three-time All-American at Georgia, winning a pair of tournaments (2005 NCAA Preview, 2006 Isleworth Invitational) over the course of his career in Athens. Harman also won the yearly award for the team’s highest GPA three times.
Harman’s fellow Georgia Bulldog Sepp Straka is also in the top five, tied for fourth at five-under-par. Straka won the John Deere Classic earlier this month for his second career win. His highest finish at a major came this season at the PGA Championship where he tied for seventh.
Tee times for Sunday’s final round are still to be announced. Harman will go out in the final group of the 151st Open Championship, golf’s oldest major, alongside American Cameron Young who starts Sunday at seven-under-par.
Harman would be the first Georgia player to win a major since Bubba Watson claimed his second career green jacket at The Masters in 2014.
