Left-handed American Brian Harman was named Claret Jug and Champion Golfer of the Year after shooting a one-under-par 70 on Sunday at the Wirral.
The 36-year-old Georgian, ranked world No. 26, started the final round with a five-shot lead, and despite briefly closing the gap to three in the middle of the afternoon, Harman barely had to come out of third gear to win the 151st Open Championship with an impressive six shots approaching the end of play.
Harman hit the front at Royal Liverpool on Friday morning and didn’t let anyone else back on his way to winning his first major trophy and first win of any kind in six years. A 65 in the second round put Harman within a five-shot lead at the halfway point, while equaling Liverpool’s record for the Open Championship. From there, he had to deal with the bogey early Saturday and Sunday, the big champions moving in, the weather deteriorating, and above all, time.
Harman has openly admitted that he has an active mind and struggles when given so much time to think about the magnitude of what’s at stake, but he seemed to be on autopilot the last 36 holes, hitting fairways and greens with incredible consistency, making him bounce back when he dropped a shot, and barely missing an important putt.
After hitting a putt on the second hole, and another on the fifth after finding a parrot off the tee, Harman briefly gave a glimmer of hope that the amount of nerve he might be able to hit had finally reached him, but back-to-back birdies on the 6th and 7th seemed to dash any hopes his rivals might have had that a collapse was on the cards.
When Harman fouled out on the 13th after missing a six-foot putt, there was just enough time for nerves to get back inside. But again, the response was immediate—a 40-foot-by-14 bird put to bed any fears of a tail bite. He backed that up with another birdie on 15 — hiding from 8 feet — to push his lead to five.
That margin finished at six, and the ability to bounce back from adversity seemed to play a part in the chase. Birdie’s chances slipped and she never closed the lead. Those who were golfing well enough to put pressure on Harman were a long way off. Tom Kim, who was somehow edging despite suffering a Grade 1 tear in his ankle after slipping Thursday night, was their pick. The South Korean birded 4 and then eagled 5, adding three more birdies for an impressive 67 to finish seven under and tied for second. But starting on day 3, before the bogeyman on 1 and 2, I effectively get him out of contention without a Harman meltdown.
Austrian Sepp Straka was last to respond to the first, responding well on 69 to join Kim in second, and push his Ryder Cup case despite bogey in the latter.
Former world number one Jason Day was the third member of the quartet at second, struggling to deal with the wet greens as Bird’s chances turned to Pars, save for a terrific chip in the 9.
John Rahm came as close as everyone else and will look back with regret on a 30-foot-by-6 tail that just missed an opportunity to cut the lead to just two. More than that, the four strikes within four feet that were missed in the first two days would be really painful. He chased after the latter least, securing his best result at The Open.
Rory McIlroy’s three consecutive 3-5 birdies had the crowd in ecstasy, but as always this week, he wasn’t able to build on that momentum and some mishandling and cold batting saw him finish with 68 for six-under-par and tied for sixth with Argentine Emiliano Grillo.
The English challenge for the first Open champion in 31 years was not met. Royal Liverpool FC’s Matthew Jordan finished with a birdie to claim a magical 10th, finishing level with another local hero, Tommy Fleetwood, whose run had lasted long before his three-time finish in 17th – leaving home fans a ride home, more than saddened that ‘Tommy Ladd’ hadn’t been able to live up to their lofty expectations.
For final scores from the 151st Open Championship, click here here.