Brian Harman takes home Open Championship with Georgia 'hunter' mentality
Brian Harman is probably drinking a pint or two out of the Claret Jug at Hoylake right about now. The former Georgia golfer won The 151st Open Championship on Sunday at Royal Liverpool, finishing his four rounds at 13-under-par and six strokes clear of the closest competition.
After the round with the championship trophy in hand, Harman was sure to shout out his Georgia roots for helping him finish the job.
“I was a wreck last night. I mean, I’ve been a wreck the whole week,” Harman, who failed to convert on his only other 54-hole lead at a major back in 2017 at the U.S. Open, said about sleeping on a 5-shot lead last night. “But, I kept thinking about something Kirby Smart said. ‘I’m not gonna be hunted; I’m gonna hunt.’ I decided to try to get out and take as much control as I could. I made a couple of putts on the front nine, and I felt like it settled down and I had a lot of control.”
The Savannah, Ga. native certainly did that on Sunday. After starting off in similar fashion and dropping two shots in his first five holes by making bogey on No. 2 and No. 5, Harman – who earned the nickname this week of ‘The Butcher of Hoylake’ both for his love of hunting and the way he devoured the golf course – bounced back with consecutive birdies on No. 6 and No. 7. That helped him shoot an even-par 35 on his way out.
Then, on the back, Harman bogeyed No. 13 but once again came out of it with two straight birdies. From there, it was home free to the finish with his name being engraved on the championship trophy before he holed out on the 72nd.
“Credit to my caddy. I knew what he was doing, but he kept bringing up, ‘Hey man, how’s the hunting club looking? How’s thing doing?’ He made me stay real present,” Harman told NBC’s Mike Tirico after the round. “I feel like that’s what won me the golf tournament. I really didn’t truly think about winning the tournament until I hit my last bunker shot. I’m really proud of that.”
“It’s overwhelming joy. Overwhelming joy and not relief because you want to enjoy this, but sleeping on a five-shot lead is tough,” Harman continued. “It’s really tough. You can’t take it from me. I’m over the moon. I’ve worked really hard my whole life, and I’m going to enjoy this one … It’s about as cool as it gets man. This is the best tournament in the world, and I’m just thrilled.”
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Harman finished the week first in fairways, second in total putts, second in bogey avoidance and fourth in scrambling. From inside of 10 feet, he was nearly automatic, making 58 of 59 (98.3%) attempts.
Smart and several others in the Georgia community have already expressed their excitement over the Claret Jug coming to Athens. It may have to wait until a little bit later in the fall though as Harman looks to finish his season strong and secure a spot on the United States Ryder Cup team.
Harman, who was a three-time All-American and the 2006 SEC Freshman of the Year, entered the week with +11000 odds to win the tournament. He exits as the first former Georgia player to claim the Claret Jug at The Open Championship.
For winning, Harman gets possession of the jug for one year, a championship gold medal, exemptions into the next five Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Opens plus The Open Championship until he’s 60. Furthermore, Harman is taking home $3,000,000 prize money.
Harman joins Bubba Watson who took home two green jackets at The Masters in 2012 and 2014 as just the second-ever Bulldog to win a major championship. Fellow Georgia Bulldog Sepp Straka, a 2016 All-America in Athens, also had a strong week, posting his best performance at a major with a T-2 finish.
