Brian Harman powers clear of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy to win 151st Open Championship
American Brian Harman survived an early shock to comfortably claim his first major title on a rain-soaked final day of the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool.
Harman’s five-stroke lead overnight dwindled briefly to three when he finished the first five holes two holes over par in abysmal conditions, but the 36-year-old responded brilliantly and regained the claret jug like a vise in hand.
A win made possible by a stunning 65 on Friday – the lowest total at a Hoylake Open until Jon Rahm’s 63 on Saturday – was sealed with tough rounds of 69 and 70 for a 13-under par aggregate and a six-shot win over Rahm, Jason Day, Sepp Straka and Tom Kim.
Rory McIlroy and Emiliano Grillo landed another shot back, while home favorite Tommy Fleetwood and Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan tied for tenth place.
Harman, only the third left-hander to win the Open after Bob Charles (1963) and Phil Mickelson (2013), celebrated his last win on the PGA Tour in 2017, the same year he led the US Open by a margin after 54 holes before finishing second to Brooks Koepka.
Only two players in championship history had lost a five-stroke lead after 54 holes – Macdonald Smith at the last Open, played at Prestwick in 1925, and Jean van de Velde at Carnoustie in 1999.
Harman briefly appeared in danger of joining this hapless club when he missed a shot on the second shot before Rahm closed the gap even further with a lucky birdie on the fifth par five.
Rahm’s drive was directed towards a cluster of gorse bushes but somehow dodged them, leaving the world number three with a good lie and a free shot from where he landed just short of the green and made two putts.
Harman’s drive on the fifth shot then followed the same line as Rahm, only to crash into a bush and force him to a penalty drop, resulting in a second bogey and reducing his lead to three.
That was only Harman’s fifth bogey of the week, and for the third time he immediately bounced back with a birdie, potting from 15 feet on the sixth to get further away.
Another top-flight iron throw set up a birdie on the seventh, restoring Harman’s overnight cushion and effectively ending the championship as a contest.
Even with Straka briefly within three strokes thanks to a birdie on the 16th, Harman immediately potted from 40 feet on the 14th for another birdie on the next hole before calmly parrying the final three holes to secure a convincing win.
McIlroy, who started the day nine down, got off to an ideal start with a hat-trick from third-round birdies but failed to make any further progress and had to settle for a final score of 68, his lowest points of the week.
The world number two won the Hoylake Open in 2014 and the US PGA Championship a month later, but hasn’t secured one of the game’s biggest titles since.
Six-time Major winner Sir Nick Faldo said in an op-ed for Sky Sports: “As he quickly won four everyone wondered if he would have a dozen or how close he could get to Jack (Nicklaus, who won 18).”
“People think you just roll the dice and win a major, but that’s not the case. I said years ago that he would either be thrilled if he got a five or disappointed if he only got a twelve in the end, and he’d be thrilled if he got a five now.
“He’s talented enough, he’s got the desire and he’s really fit, just there are a few things wrong with his short irons. You have to find a way to clear the air and find a way with an eight iron or less.”