Sam Torrance: Hard but fair Open test suited magnificent Brian Harman perfectly
You might not know Brian Harman if you walk past him in the street but, as he showed in winning the Open at the weekend, you’ll certainly know him when you hand in your scorecard.
The low-key American was magnificent in all aspects of his game for the whole week on his way to winning by six shots at Royal Liverpool on Sunday.
His driving was out of this world, his iron play was great, and his chipping and putting were fantastic.
Harman won by a distance in the end but he was 10 under par after two rounds and never really looked like losing it from there.
His ability to respond on the rare occasion he made a bogey or hit a wayward shot was absolutely key to staying in front in challenging conditions.
The man from Georgia dropped a couple of shots at the start of his third and fourth rounds but quickly responded on both occasions to make the turn level.
Harman seems like a really nice guy and I loved that he said a spectator who heckled him about not having “the stones” to finish the job only made him more determined.
He was 26th in the world before the Open so the boy can play, even if he is not the most high-profile player on the PGA Tour and hadn’t won a major before.
His putting has always been brilliant. He is not the longest hitter – some guys will hit it 20-30 yards past him – but I’d swap their length for hitting as straight as he does.
This was a pretty severe test and that suited him down to the ground. He didn’t try to do anything fancy and played within himself on the last day.
Despite enjoying a commanding lead all weekend, Harman said he didn’t allow himself to think about lifting the Claret Jug until he had got out of the bunker at 18.
That’s absolutely right – if you get ahead of yourself you’ll be making your champions’ speech at the 10th tee – especially with bunkers like these that can easily cost you three shots.
The bunkers caused some debate but I thought that they were magnificent. Bunkers are meant to be hazards; some people forget that.
If you go into a water hazard you have to take a drop. At least with a bunker you have the chance to play out of the sand. I like it as it was at Royal Liverpool.
The weather can be an important factor at the Open but I’m glad that this year it was fair to everyone.
One of the idiosyncrasies of links golf is that conditions can vary dramatically from morning to afternoon, but at Hoylake it was either wet or windy or fine for the whole day.
The relentless rain on Sunday might have made it harder for the chasing pack to shoot low scores, but it was also easier for Harman to drop shots.
Instead he extended his overnight lead, capping a very impressive four days on Merseyside.
Jon Rahm’s round of 63 on Saturday was sublime but he never quite got going on Sunday and it was a similar story for Rory McIlroy, who couldn’t build on promising starts on both days.
I felt sorry for Tommy Fleetwood, who had a lot of pressure on his shoulders as the leading local contender.
He played so well but couldn’t buy a putt on Sunday and suffering a triple bogey at the 71st hole was a real sickener.
Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan had a fantastic week, from hitting the opening shot to finishing tied for 10th and booking his place at next year’s Open.
Austrian Sepp Straka, meanwhile, played really well to join Rahm in a four-man tie for second. Combined with his recent win on the PGA Tour, that must book his Ryder Cup place.
Looking ahead to that contest in Rome, Zach Johnson was one of the first to congratulate Harman on Sunday. He will surely be in Johnson’s US team.
Now that all four men’s majors are done for this year and it is just two months away, a lot of attention will turn to the Ryder Cup and it’s very exciting.
I think the European team is building beautifully but there are seven or eight great players who probably deserve one of the six captain’s picks, so Luke Donald has plenty to think about.
Sam Torrance OBE is a former Ryder Cup-winning captain and one of Europe’s most successful golfers. Follow him @torrancesam