Harman Bludgeons Open Field With Putter to Claim $3 Million Prize
Brian Harman turned the 151st playing of the Open Championship into a live-action version of the movie Free Guy, in which one of those stock background characters in a video game gains consciousness and begins upending the narrative.
In 11 years on tour, Harman has largely been a shadowy figure who fills out the scene without attracting attention. Yes, he’s won twice on the PGA Tour—the 2014 John Deere and the 2017 Wells Fargo—but he never rose above 20th in the World Rankings and largely amassed almost $29 million in career earnings by simply sticking around. That approach earned him fresh deals with Zero Restrictions and B. Draddy earlier this year on top of existing endorsements with Titleist, TaylorMade, MegaCorp, Columbia, GTL and NetJets. Now, he’s added another $3 million in winnings by playing the same “boring” game that has served him so moderately: Short but accurate driving and stellar putting.
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That combo put Harman so far ahead of the field by Saturday afternoon that Sunday’s round turned out to be a bit of snoozer, unless you’re a fan of driving rain, endless waggles and a steady succession of fairways and greens. That’s not to diminish the performance by Harman, who won the 2003 U.S. Junior and held a long reign at the top of the world amateur rankings. With his silky smooth swing, he was ticketed for stardom, but instead only rose to level of tour regular.
“I doubled down on my process,” he said, “and I know it’s boring and it is not flashy. But, until hitting that last bunker shot, I have not thought about winning the tournament.”
Win he did, and, now, at 36, with a bare head and flecks of gray in his beard, he’s a major winner.
“First,” Harman, a Georgia native, said after the victory, “I’m going to have a couple of pints out of this here trophy.”
Harman becomes the oldest first-time major champion since Sergio Garcia won the Masters in 2017 at 37. His six-stroke margin of victory is second only to Tiger Woods’ eight-stroke win at St. Andrews in 2000 in Open Championship history, and he’s only the third lefty to win. He’s also the 12th player to hold at least a five-stroke lead after 54 holes of a major, and the 10th to convert that lead to a win.
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