MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP
The Open Championship
Brian Harman Wins the 151st Open Championship. Day Runner Up
America’s Brian Harman became a major champion after winning The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The 36-year-old from Georgia etched his name in history after scoring an emphatic six-shot victory over Australia’s Jason Day, Spain’s Jon Rahm, Korea’s Tom Kim and Austria’s Sepp Straka.
Harman opened the 13th staging of The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club with rounds of 67 and 65. His 10-under total tied the 36-hole record at the English links layout held by Tiger Woods (2006) and Rory McIlroy (2014). The gritty world No. 26 took a handy five-shot lead into the weekend. He carded a solid 2-under 69 on Saturday to get to 12-under and hold a five-shot lead after three rounds over compatriot Cameron Young. It was the 12th time in the last 40 years a player enjoyed the 54-hole lead at a major by five shots or more. Only Greg Norman (six shots at the 1996 Masters) and Jean Van de Velde (five shots at the 1999 Open Championship) failed to convert for victory.
Even with the large advantage, winning wasn’t locked in! After all, the tour veteran owned just two career PGA titles with his last victory coming in 2017 at the Wells Fargo Championship. And, the one time he led a major after 54 holes, which was at the 2017 US Open, he stumbled with a final-round 72 to tie for second place.
Harman began his final round with two bogeys during his opening five-hole stretch. From that point, he was invincible. Harman produced bounce back birdies at the 6th and 7th holes and took a healthy six-shot lead into the back nine. Not even a momentary lapse at the 13th hole threatened his chance to hoist The Claret Jug. Harman erased that bogey with back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th holes. He finished with a classy up-and-down at the final hole for to sign for a 1-under par final round and 13-under total.
Harman becomes the fifth left-handed golfer in the men’s game to win a major championship. He joins Bob Charles, Phil Mickelson, Mike Weir and Bubba Watson.
Day, Rahm, Kim and Straka took a share of second place at 7-under. It was Day’s 11th start at The Open. The 35-year-old had previously managed just one result inside the top 20 (T4 in 2015). The Queenslander, who returned to the winner’s circle in May at the AT&T Byron Nelson, fired a 2-under 69 on Saturday and Sunday for his best career finish at The Open. Rahm was looking for his fifth win of the PGA Tour season. The FedExCup leader bolted up the leaderboard after a superb course record 8-under 63 on Saturday. The Masters champion carded a final round 1-under 70 for his third top 10 at a major this year. Kim produced the equal-best final round of the field with a stunning 4-under 67. The 21-year-old young gun with two PGA titles backed up his strong performance at the US Open (T8) last month. Straka closed with a solid 2-under 69 for his best finish at a major.
Defending champion Cameron Smith was never in a position to contend for back-to-back titles. The Australian produced rounds of 72, 72, 68 and 73 to finish at 1-over and in a tie for 33rd place.
Fellow Australian Travis Smyth may have missed the cut by five shots at the hallway mark of The Open. But, the 28-year-old from NSW had a good reason to raise a celebration of sorts heading into the weekend. Smyth produced a spectacular hole-in-one at the newly formed par 3, 17th hole at Royal Liverpool. It was the first ace at the controversial 132-yard short hole. Smyth used a 9-iron to score his third career hole-in-one.
South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht collected the Silver Medal as the lead amateur.
The PGA Tour moves to Minnesota for next week’s 3M Open to be staged at TPC Twin Cities. America’s Tony Finau is the defending champion.
Final Scores
The Open Championship
1. Brian Harman -13
T2. Jason Day -7
T2. Jon Rahm -7
T2. Tom Kim -7
T2. Sepp Straka -7
T5. Emiliano Grillo -6
T5. Rory McIlroy -6
Other Australians
T33. Adam Scott +1
T33. Cameron Smith +1
T41. Min Woo Lee +2
MC. Lucas Herbert
MC. Travis Smyth
MC. Daniel Hillier
MC. Haydn Barron
MC. David Micheluzzi
MC. Connor McKinney
MC. Harrison Crowe
Photo credit: Gregory Shamus /Getty Images
