Harman was 36 holes away from weekend of his life, one that could end with him capturing the claret jug, and he had to play in front of fans who didn’t want to see him do it.
Jason Day leads the Australian hopes of winning a second Open Championship in a row by a golfer from Down Under having clung to contention on day three at Royal Liverpool.
With Brian Harman sitting five strokes clear at the top of the leaderboard early Saturday morning, many UK golf fans were finally forced to learn who the hell Brian Harman is. He’s a lefty. He looks like a former Australian cricket captain.
In football terms, the language of the Liverpool galleries, Tommy Fleetwood’s five-shot deficit through 36 holes to Brian Harman at the Open Championship is not unlike his beloved Everton FC being a few goals down at halftime in a home game at Goodison Park. It’s not ideal, but it’s not ever either.
It’s been a dream start to the Open Championship for Brian Harman, and when his 15-footer for eagle rolled in on 18 after hitting his two best shots of the day, which followed two hard-fought pars on 16 and 17, it completed the dream finish … at least for 36 holes.
On Friday, after lipping out a par putt on the 10th hole, fiery Spaniard Jon Rahm unleashed a muy picante F-bomb that will reverberate around Royal Liverpool for decades to come. Ear muffs, kiddos.
Leading into the tournament we were warned about all of Hoylake’s internal out-of-bounds and told by one top coach that the course’s new par 3 “could ruin somebody’s career”. But it was an old links standard that caused this disaster: the pot bunker.
“Home favourite” has always been a label imbued with good and bad vibes. The biggest benefit is obvious: support from one’s own people always carries with it a psychological boost. But there is a downside in the added pressure the recipient can feel in trying not to let anyone down.
Cameron Smith was welcomed to the first tee at the 151st Open on Thursday morning to raucous applause and warmly announced as “the defending champion.” Less friendly, though, was the golf course at Royal Liverpool as the Australian began his title defence with a one-over-par 72.
Australian Golf Digest
