by Brian Harman is the champion golfer of the year.
The 36-year-old scored his first major win by winning the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool on Sunday with a score of -13.
Harman’s 6-under 65 on Friday catapulted him into a huge lead he wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the tournament. However, the third round on Saturday did not start all sunshine and rainbows (which was not on Sunday in England).
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Brian Harman celebrates after putting the 14th green down during the 151 Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 23, 2023 in Hoylake, England. (Warren Little/fake images)
Paired with local hero Tommy Fleetwood for the third round, Harman led the Englishman by five shots going into Saturday. However, that advantage was quickly reduced to two, as he was clearly feeling the wrath of Fleetwood’s field advantage.
But Harman handled the pressure very well, shooting 4-under over his last 13 holes, ending his day at minus-12 in the tournament and up five.
Gray skies and rain filled the field on Sunday, but Harman was comfortable as his lead never fell below four strokes on the day. He was in complete control of his own destiny and ended up winning by six.
There were some low numbers during the last two rounds, and the race for second place got interesting, but no score was low enough to catch Harman.
Brian Harman walks the green on the ninth hole during the Open on July 23, 2023 in Hoylake, England. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The victory was Harman’s third on Tour and his first since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship. He had not performed well at the previous three majors this year, missing the cut at both the Masters and the PGA Championship before finishing T43 at the US Open.
He finished T6 at last year’s Open, then his second top-10 finish at a major (also, T2 at the 2017 US Open). Going into the tournament, some sportsbooks had him at odds of 120-1. Now, his name will be forever in the Claret Jug.
On home soil, Fleetwood held a tie for the lead until the first round at -5, but after 71 straight seconds, he finished four under par thanks to a triple bogey on his penultimate hole.
Rory McIlroy’s great drought will enter its 10th year; the last came at the 2014 Open, also at Royal Liverpool. He finished T6 at six under par after T7 and second at the PGA Championship and US Open, respectively; he missed the cut at the Masters.
Brian Harman tees off on day four of the 151st Open at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club on July 23, 2023. (Warren Little/fake images)
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Four players finished T2 at seven under par: Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Tom Kim and Sepp Straka.
