Brian Harman, dubbed the Butcher of Hoylake, is contending again at British Open
Brian Harman, who was given that moniker when he won the 2023 British Open at Royal Liverpool, shot to the top of the leaderboard with a bogey-free 6-under 65 at Royal Portrush on Friday, equaling his lowest career score at a major.
The 38-year-old Georgia Bulldog birdied the first two holes and closed with the sixth circle of the day on his card. He improved to a 36-hole total of 8-under 134 and is poised to make a run at a second Claret Jug.
'I'd spend the rest of my life trying to get in a position to feel this again,' he said of having a chance at another major title.
Harman, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, is turning into a links golf specialist. After a sluggish start playing links golf, he's become a proponent of the ground game, flighting his irons and embracing the multiple options offered to pull off shots.
'Places like this force you to be a little bit more creative. It's not so much of an aerial attack,' he said. 'I just enjoy the creativity and trying to think your way around. You're not forced to hit certain shots. You can kind of do it your own way.'
But it wasn't always that way for Harman. He still remembers his first experience playing links golf in the 2007 Palmer Cup at Prestwick in Scotland and being baffled by a style of golf foreign to him.
'I played four matches, went 0-4, and I don't think I made it past like No. 14. I got worn out,' he said. 'I couldn't understand there – because I kept trying to chip with a lob wedge, and I kept trying to chip it into the air. The ground being so firm was so unique that I just couldn't get adjusted to it.'
Harman is one of the shortest hitters on the PGA Tour but his disadvantage is negated to some effect by the firmness of the turf, which helps the ball roll out.
'There's just a million different ways to play over here whereas at some other majors you get kind of stuck into this, well, I'm going to swing as hard as I can off this tee ball and try to hit this 7-iron as high as I possibly can and hope it stops,' Harman said.
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Chris Gotterup doubled his career earnings with strong play at Scottish, British Opens
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