No stress, no fuss, Harman's boring approach works Open wonders again
Two years after seizing the halfway lead at Royal Liverpool and going on to lift the Claret Jug by a whopping six strokes, the 38-year-old from Savannah, Georgia is at it again, this timer across the Irish Sea at Royal Portrush.
He carded the lowest round of the tournament, a bogey-free six-under-par 65 to move to eight under and throw down the gauntlet to the chasing pack.
If Harman is interested in omens, he also fired a bogey-free 65 at Hoylake two years ago and was never threatened as he went on to claim his sole major, sapping the spirit of the chasers on a rain-soaked final day with a nerveless display.
There is nothing flashy about the left-handed world number 26 who goes about his business with little fanfare.
Indeed, as he played the 17th hole on Friday, many of the fans perched alongside the fairway seemed oblivious to the fact the Open leader was in their vicinity, instead gazing into the distance for a bird's eye view of home favourite Rory McIlroy.
But his unflappable nature and relentless accuracy means that while British links courses mess with the minds of some of his compatriots, Harman feels completely in his element.
"I'll approach the weekend the same way. The only thing I'm really worried about is the first tee ball tomorrow, and then I'll try to hit the next one up there close to the flag," Harman, who lives on a 60-acre ranch, hunts for his own food and drives a tractor, told reporters.
"If not, go to the second hole. It's a very boring approach that I take. I'm not trying to be heroic or do anything crazy. I know that I've got the game to do it. It's just a matter of executing and staying in my own head."
Harman enjoys the fact that there are "a million different ways" to play a course like the Dunluce Links, although it took him a while to figure them out as he missed the cut in four successive Open appearances between 2015 and 2019, when it was last staged at Royal Portrush.
"I love the golf over here. It suits me. Distance, of course, matters over here, but it doesn't matter as much as maybe some other tournaments," he said.
"You've got to know how far everything's going. Then you can't get frustrated. Like you're going to get bad breaks, you're going to end up in funny spots where it doesn't seem fair, and you just have to kind of outlast that stuff."
Asked if he came close to dropping a shot on Friday, Harman struggled to come up with anything more than needing to hole a six-footer to save par at the 11th.
No stress, no drama, just as Harman likes it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Armoy road races 2025 live on BBC Sport NI
The Armoy road race has become a staple part of the Irish motorcycling calendar since its inception in 2009 and this weekend's event looks set to produce more thrilling racing for the thousands of spectators who an exciting new venture for the event, as a pilot, Saturday's racing will be streamed live on BBC iPlayer and worldwide on the BBC Sport website for the first time, allowing fans from across the globe to enjoy the high-speed action from the three-mile public roads circuit in the county Antrim of the main day of racing, culminating in the feature 'Race of Legends', will begin at 09:30 the meeting prepares to rev into life with qualifying and two scheduled races on Friday, BBC Sport brings you the lowdown on the popular Irish road race. History of Armoy road races In comparison to other road races with a long history in Northern Ireland, the Armoy event is a relatively recent addition to the calendar, having first taken place in meeting is centred on the village of Armoy and staged around a course which is triangular in shape and ridden in an anti-clockwise main feature race is called 'The Race of Legends' in recognition of the Armoy Armada quartet of riders who competed at road racing events from the mid to late Armada was established in 1977 and comprised the late Joey Dunlop, Mervyn Robinson and Frank Kennedy, plus Joey's brother current races are held on the roads that these riders used to test their machines in 'unofficial' practice sessions on open roads prior to race 2018 version of the event saw racing cancelled on the main Saturday race day because of persistent heavy rain, while the 2020 meeting fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2021 staging was subject to spectator restrictions because of the coronavirus. Top riders who have competed at Armoy The Armoy races have traditionally attracted a strong field of riders from Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and the big names who have competed are record 33-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop, his late brother William, Ryan Farquhar, Jeremy McWilliams, late Manxman Dan Kneen, Dean Harrison, Guy Martin and Davey Dunlop and Yorkshireman Todd have been the dominant forces in recent years, although neither have entered this year's won five races in both 2021 and 2023 and his overall career tally of victories at the event stands at CV include 10 successes in the 'Race of Legends', including nine successive triumphs between 2011 and 2021 and a further win in 2023. The 35-year-old has won 18 Superbike races in made one of his first road race appearances at Armoy back in 2017 and has since excelled by racking up a four-timer in 2022 and a treble in four riders - Michael Dunlop, Todd, Martin and Farquhar - have won 'big bike' races in the history of the event. What of the 2025 races? This year's meeting is being held on Friday 25 July and Saturday 26 July, with roads closing at 10:00 BST on Friday and 09:00 on and qualifying sessions for all classes will take place on Friday, followed by two scheduled races, the first Supertwin and Supersport further races are scheduled for Saturday, including the Open race, further Supersport and Supertwin events, Moto3/125cc, Classic Superbike and the feature 'Race of Legends'.Also on the card are a Supermono class within the Supertwins race, Junior and Senior Support races, Junior and Senior classic races, Supersport 300 and Lightweight SupersportA high quality entry includes Burrows Engineering/RK Racing rider Conor Cummins, KTS Steadplan Racing's Jamie Coward, who was named man-of-the-meeting in 2024, and Northern Ireland's Paul Jordan, who rides for Jackson notable riders are Republic of Ireland challengers Mike Browne, Michael Sweeney and Derek McGee, plus customary English visitors Phil Crowe and Dominic Herbertson, Manx duo Joe Yeardsley and Marcus Simpson and Finland's Erno Kostamo, a regular at the North West 200 and Isle of Man GP rider and North West 200 race winner Jeremy McWilliams returns to compete in the Supersport, Lightweight Supersport and Classic Superbike the list of newcomers are double Southern 100 Supertwins winner Rob Hodson, Republic of Ireland riders Brian McCormack and Kevin Keyes, and former British Superbike and National Superstock competitor Franco Bourne. Lap records and most wins Most wins - Michael Dunlop 29, Barry Davidson 16, Ryan Farquhar 12, William Dunlop 11, Davey Todd 7, Richard Ford 7, Jamie Coward 4, Derek McGee 4, Christian Elkin 4, Robert McCrum 4, Guy Martin 3, Neil Kernohan 3, Dean Harrison 2Lap records - Superbike and absolute course record - Davey Todd (BMW) 109.325mph (2024)Supersport - Michael Dunlop (Yamaha) 105.179 (Yamaha) 2023Supertwin - Jamie Coward (Kawasaki) 100.536 (Kawasaki) 2024Moto3 - Mike Browne (Honda) 90.755mph (2023)Classic Superbike - Jamie Coward 97.410mph (2022) 2024 results Race of Legends - 1 Davey Todd; 2 Phil Crowe; 3 Dominic Herbertson; 4 Jamie CowardOpen race - 1 Davey Todd; 2 Phil Crowe; 3 Jamie Coward; 4 Dominic HerbertsonSupersport one - 1 Mike Browne; 2 Davey Todd; 3 Paul JordanSupersport two - 1 Davey Todd; 2 Mike Browne; 3 Jamie CowardSupertwins one - 1 Jamie Coward; 2 Mike Browne; 3 Michael SweeneySupertwins two - 1 Jamie Coward; 2 Mike Browne; 3 Paul Jordan
Reuters
3 hours ago
- Reuters
Jon Rahm supports Sergio Garcia as future Ryder Cup captain
July 24 - There are still two months until the next Ryder Cup, but Jon Rahm already has thoughts on which golfer should captain Team Europe six years hence. With Ryder Cup officials revealing Tuesday that Spain's Camiral Golf Resort will host the 2031 competition, Rahm believes countryman Sergio Garcia makes sense as Team Europe's captain. The only other time Spain was the site for the Ryder Cup, Spain's Seve Ballesteros captained his side to victory in 1997 at Valderrama. "I think there's something to say about possibly having, obviously, a local captain," Rahm said Wednesday while previewing this week's LIV Golf United Kingdom tournament. "I think it would do wonders for the crowd. If history shows us anything, and it's very hard to compare anybody to Seve, but I've only heard stories about what that Ryder Cup was like. I would say, if possible, I think that's a very obvious good choice to have Sergio be a part of that one." The 45-year-old Garcia ranks among the greatest performers in Ryder Cup annals. In 10 Ryder Cup competitions from 1999 to 2021, he delivered a 25-13-7 record in singles matches. No one has equaled his 28.5 points earned - and he might claim a spot on captain Luke Donald's team for this year's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. "I think that I can bring things to the team that-to any team that would probably need it," Garcia told reporters after making the cut at last week's Open Championship. "Obviously, at the end of the day, he's going to make whatever he thinks is the best decision for him and his team, at the end of the day. So, we'll see." --Field Level Media
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
What if the England DNA is just never giving up?
In 2014 the FA introduced a set of principles that aimed to define the core characteristics of the England teams and profile the future players who would people them, calling it the 'England DNA'. The decade since then has brought the emergence of a new, technically adept cohort of male and female players. More importantly, both the England men's and women's teams have taken a significant step forward in terms of tournament performance, reaching four finals between them — with a fifth to come on Sunday — of which one was unforgettably won by the Lionesses at Wembley in 2022. These are times that England fans feel grateful to be living through. If you were going to be ultra-critical, though, you'd focus on precisely that idea of England DNA: that shared double-thread which intertwines men's and women's teams and tells us everything we need to know about what an England team looks like, how they play, what their idea of football is. You could probably count on one hand the number of tournament games, even in this era of unprecedented success, where either team has convincingly demonstrated an identity, a way of playing, with the same force or confidence with which Spain — England's biggest rival as the great dual power of the present era — enact their brand of football. Tuesday night's game against Italy was a case in point. There were mitigating circumstances for the Lionesses' rather disjointed and reactive performances against France and Sweden. France was their first tournament game without Millie Bright, Mary Earps and Fran Kirby, with new players bedding in, and Sweden pressed England hard and scored in the second minute: it's a pretty hard ask to serenely impose your style of football in those circumstances. But against Italy, you might have expected more from Sarina Wiegman 's team. They were playing opponents with less quality and far less experience at this level, who for the first half an hour were just trying to feel their way into the occasion. This was exactly the sort of situation where you would expect the superior team, the one playing their fifth straight semi-final, to set the tone and tempo of the match, play their natural game, give a confident exhibition of the way they play. England offered very little of that. Watching them, I had the familiar feeling of finding it hard to discern what they were actually trying to do, the collective joined-up idea of how they intended to create, control and defend. The flip side, of course, is that there was so much to admire in the way England came back. This is a team who never know they're beaten. Once again, in adversity, we saw the best of them. For character, mentality and resilience, England's performance could not be faulted, but it's also worth putting a bit of emphasis on their composure and execution. For the equaliser, Lauren Hemp delivered a superb whipped-in cross to the near post, and Michelle Agyemang finished brilliantly, taking a perfect first touch and then drilling the shot low and hard through the legs of Elena Linari and Laura Giuliani. Given the desperation of the situation, those were moments of exceptional quality. But to be honest, I'm not sure we expected anything less. These Lionesses have thoroughly earned our confidence in their capacity to keep going until the very last second and more often than not, somehow, just find a way. We've seen them do it many times before, after all. Not only could they easily have lost to Sweden in Zurich, they gritted their way past Nigeria and Colombia at the last World Cup, and scored an 84th-minute equaliser against Spain en route to the trophy in 2022. To listen to the players after the Italy game, speaking about the confidence they felt that they could do it again, even as the clock ticked past 95 minutes, was to understand that once a team have done this often enough, that belief, that collective memory, compounds so powerfully that it becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'Whilst there are seconds on the clock,' Leah Williamson said, 'it's less 'if' and more 'how'.' I don't think it's mere laziness to draw the comparison with the England men's team: the parallels are obvious. At Euro 2024 in particular, Gareth Southgate's team were often dreadfully inert and lacking in ideas when given the blank slate of a goalless scoreboard and an opponent they were expected to beat: think of the match against Slovenia and the start of the matches against Slovakia and Switzerland. They were not good at dictating games. But give them a desperate situation to react to, and the true quality of the team revealed itself. When Dan Ashworth — then the FA's director of elite development, but now its chief football officer — came up with the England DNA, it was with a vision of formulating a distinct play style in mind. 'As a football nation we have long been characterised by our passion, fighting spirit and effort,' he said. 'Although there are aspects of these characteristics we wish to retain, we do not wish to be solely defined by them.' Bronze, right, and Mead recover in the cryotherapy chamber after a second consecutive game that went to extra time… LIONESSES But where Ashworth had hoped a higher English style would articulate itself, there remains a kind of blank space, one the Lionesses players at this tournament have filled with their evocation of 'proper England': meaning, pretty much, playing with passion, fighting spirit and effort. And yet, there are a few common things which run through the recent exploits of the two national teams. If you had to sum them up, you would probably say: winning duels. Maximising set pieces. Working until the absolute last second and leaving nothing out on the pitch. And pinning the performance on the skill, swagger and determination of individuals rather than an orchestrated tactical masterplan. The question is: is this enough? Does all this constitute an identity in its own right, or is it a poor substitute for one, a scant, bare-minimum ethos which exists in the vacuum where England's answer to Spain's possession-based, positional style ought to be? It's easy to lean towards the latter — and it will be especially so if Sunday brings the spectacle of Spain beating England in a major final for a third year in a row. But when I spoke to the Euro '96 champion Marco Bode last year about Germany's golden era from the 1970s to the mid-Nineties, he advanced the view that the success of those Germany teams was built on work rate, solid temperament and above all, the ability to respond to difficult moments and solve problems. It strikes me that those aren't so different from the virtues which define the England teams now. The reality is there is no English equivalent of Italy's catenaccio, Germany's gegenpressing, Spain's juego de posición, the Cruyff school of the Netherlands. The attempt to define and invent one was nobly intentioned and may bear fruit one day, but right now still feels like a work in progress. And if there's one cardinal lesson which international football teaches us, it's that you can't wish into existence what you don't have; you can only make the best of what you do. England v Spain
