If Brian Harman was named Rory McIlroy or Scottie Scheffler or Jon Rahm or Jordan Spieth or one of many other notable names in the game of golf, then his performance in the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool would have been seen as complete dominance. Harman has not won in six years, though he has been a consistent ATM and was in contention at the previous week’s Scottish Open as well as the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews.
Harman held the 54-hole lead in the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, but eventually finished 2nd, four shots back of Brooks Koepka. As a junior golfer, Harman was considered the best junior player in the U.S. having won the prestigious 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, along with a boat load of other tournaments. While in college at Georgia, he was a three-time 2nd Team All-American and represented the U.S. in the 2005 and 2009 Walker Cups and the 2007 Palmer Cup. There is no question he is extremely talented and it’s no fluke that he has been on the PGA Tout for such a long time, but when people and pundits alike talk of dominating performances, Harman is not the name that would come to the forefront.
Let’s dive into his 2023 Open Championship win and show you how dominant it actually was!
- Harman reached -10 on Friday after a flawless 65 on Friday capped off by an eagle on the treacherous 18th (no other golfer ever reached -10)
- Harman reached -12 on Saturday
- Harman finished at -13 and no other golfer got beyond -8 and that was Sepp Straka for only 2 holes, but eventually finished T2nd at -7
- Harman matched Woods’ 2006 and McIlroy’s 2014 36-hole score of 132 all played at Royal Liverpool
- Harman won by 6 shots, which is very rare in Majors
- Harman had a total of 108 putts over the 4 rounds (average of 27 putts per round)
- Harman made 58 of 59 putts inside 10 feet and did not have a 3 putt all week
- On another note; Harman said this about the final round:
“After I made my second bogey, a guy, when I was passing him, he said, “Harman, you don’t have the stones for this”…THAT HELPED”
I used the name “Harman” a lot in this post, because now you will know and remember his name and deservedly so, because if this wasn’t a complete dominating performance, then there’s no such thing as one.
