Lessons from Brian Harman’s OPEN Championship Victory By Ed Travis The R&A got it right. This year’s OPEN Championship contested at Royal Liverpool proved that when a complete range of golfing skills are tested those with the ability to keep the ball in play, hit reasonable scoring shots and are consistent with their medium range putting can and will win. Journeyman PGA Tour player Brian Harman beat the field comprised of the best golfers in the world at the OPEN Championship by six shots. He made mistakes, but when he did, like when his tee shot on the 5th hole in the fourth round flew into a gorse bush, he limited the damage with smart play to post a bogey. The four days saw changing weather conditions, warm, cold, wind and rain, plus windy, cool, and rainy all at the same time. Harman’s driving distance was not spectacular, especially when compared with the big guns in the field like Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. He is 144th in driving distance on Tour at just over 293 yards but a credible 8th in accuracy, hitting more than two-thirds of the fairways. Many analysts dismiss Harman as a “one-off,” who putted lights out for a week, the right week, and took home the Claret Jug. He was first in Michigan Golf Journal
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