Harman rides steady Sunday to comfortable win at 151st Open
Brian Harman removed any doubt early on Sunday, turning a five-shot overnight lead into a six-shot victory to claim his first career major at The Open.
The 36-year-old looked comfortable throughout the majority of the day, overcoming a couple early bogeys with four birdies to close with a 1-under 70 in rainy conditions at Royal Liverpool.
None of the chasers could sustain a serious run at Harman's lead, with Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day eventually finishing in a tie for second at 7-under.
| Place | Player | Total to par | Round 4 score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Harman | -13 | 70 |
| T2 | Tom Kim | -7 | 67 |
| T2 | Sepp Straka | -7 | 69 |
| T2 | Jason Day | -7 | 69 |
| T2 | Jon Rahm | -7 | 70 |
| T6 | Rory McIlroy | -6 | 68 |
| T6 | Emiliano Grillo | -6 | 68 |
| T8 | Cameron Young | -5 | 73 |
| T8 | Shubhankar Sharma | -5 | 70 |
| T10 | Max Homa | -4 | 69 |
| T10 | Matthew Jordan | -4 | 70 |
| T10 | Tommy Fleetwood | -4 | 72 |
There was slight drama early as Harman wobbled on the opening holes for the second straight day. After a routine par on the first, a bad bogey from the center of the fairway on the second brought him one closer to the field. It was then that the third hole provided one of the pivotal moments of the day - where Harman nearly had a disaster that could have altered the course of the championship.
After finding the fairway off the tee, Harman yanked his approach to the right of the flag, with the path appearing destined for the out of bounds area. The thick rough would save him, as the ball stopped dead just a few feet from the line. A ball in that area would have seen him hitting his fourth from 200 yards away, but instead it was a pitch from the rough that he got up-and-down for a clutch par.
The only other moment of tension on the day came at the fifth hole, when Harman found a gorse bush off the tee. He would take an unplayable lie and eventually make a bogey to see his five-shot lead drop to just three heading to the sixth tee.
The Georgia alum then provided an early dagger to the field, stuffing his tee shot on the par 3 to 13 feet and pouring in the putt to cancel out the previous bogey. That clearly righted the ship, as Harman immediately walked to the seventh tee and pounded a drive down the right side. His approach left him 23 feet for a second straight birdie, and his red-hot putter obliged him by finding the cup.
It would be curtains from there, as Harman once again played the back nine in the same brilliant fashion as he had all week. He ended the tournament with only two bogeys in 36 holes on the back nine.
The wet weather made scoring difficult at a soggy Royal Liverpool on Sunday. Conditions made it difficult for any of the chasers to put serious pressure on Harman. Rahm and Rory McIlroy both ignited the crowd for a moment or two earlier in the round, but there simply weren't enough birdies out there to catch the red-hot Harman.
Rahm's tie for second caps an outstanding run in the majors this season, as the Masters champion also added a top-10 finish at the U.S. Open to his runner-up showing this week.
McIlroy was also a force in majors this year, but will now see his drought stretch into a 10th year since he last claimed victory at the 2014 PGA Championship. The 34-year-old has somehow finished in the top eight in seven of his last eight majors.