Brian Harman: the tough nut that refused to crack Premium

The 36-year-old American golfer — the oldest first-time Major winner since Sergio Garcia, who was 37 when he won the 2017 Masters — scripted a famous victory at the British Open. It was a triumph of his never-say-die attitude and his ability to seize the moment when it presented itself

Last Saturday, when he made two bogeys in four holes and his British Open lead over Jon Rahm was down to two, Brian Harman smashed a 3-wood onto the green at the par-5 fifth for a birdie. 

It was on that hole, on that day, that the 36-year-old American said he heard a spectator say, “Harman, you don’t have the stones for this.” The derisive taunt was sweet music to the diminutive lefty with Georgia grit and something to prove — to himself and anyone watching.

For, nothing motivates Harman like being told he can’t do something. “If they wanted me to not play well, they should have been really nice to me,” he said with a smile.

It’s an attitude three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington appreciatively describes as the “perfect chip on his shoulder”. “I think Brian Harman is a very dogged person. Nearly every day he goes out on the golf course like he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder, like he’s fighting something,” said Harrington. “He’s a great player but is ignored just because he doesn’t fit the mould, doesn’t look the part. But he’s a tough nut, I can tell you that.”

Harman’s pluck enabled him to turn back every challenge at the British Open, from big names to foul weather, as he took his place in history among Major champions. Next to Harman on a table last Sunday evening was the silver claret jug, the oldest trophy in golf, his name now engraved on the base. “To win what I consider is the greatest prize in golf, it’s as good as it gets,” he said.

It was not a triumph experts and bookmakers saw coming. Indeed, few of the thousands of fans who huddled under a sea of umbrellas on the final day would have tipped the World No. 26 to win before the tournament. Harman had gone 167 events over six years without tasting victory on the PGA Tour. His last win came at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship. Now Harman is the 11th different champion in 12 Majors over the past three years.

The victory shone a light on what it takes to win a golf Major — of how challenging, even improbable, an ambition it is for a majority of golfers, of the number of things that need to align for the perfect moment to appear, and of how this can come after years of failure. But unless players believe that their moment is out there and are ready to step up when it presents itself, all the effort, the training, the sacrifices they have endured will fall short.