Brian Harman put on a majestic display at The 151st Open Championship, with the American dominating from start to finish in difficult conditions.
Claiming a six-shot victory, the win was the largest in Open history since 2019, as Harman missed just one putt inside 10-foot and, in the process, joined an exclusive group of American golfers. Legends of the game if you will!
Becoming the fifth American to pick up the Claret Jug in 10 years, as well as the 31st in the event's history, Harman joined Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Johnny Miller and Tiger Woods as the only Americans to win The Open by six strokes or more.
His six shot win is still seven off Old Tom Morris's record victory margin of 13 strokes in 1862, but there's no denying that Harman is part of an exclusive group of legends of the game, with rounds of 67, 65, 69 and 70 giving him a 13-under tournament total.
Along with the margin of victory, the main standout was Harman's ability to bounce back when things didn't go his way. One example was that he made six bogeys in the whole tournament and, following those bogeys, he made four birdies on the very next hole. Another standout was the 36-year-old's putting...
Americans to win @TheOpen by 6+ shotsBobby JonesWalter HagenArnold PalmerJohnny MillerTiger WoodsBrian HarmanJuly 23, 2023
On Thursday and Friday, the American produced 26 and 23 putts, with 29 and 30 coming on the weekend. Only Jason Day made less than Harman, and only by one, with Harman making 106 putts for the week. That's the fewest by an Open winner in the last 20 years.
The putter in question? Well, that is a TaylorMade model that was first released in 2016, with Harman's flat stick of choice being the TaylorMade Spider OS CB. The 'OS' stands for 'Oversized' and the 'CB' stands for 'Counter Balanced'. On the greens of Royal Liverpool, he dominated.
