PGA Tour player blog: British Open win isn’t going to change who I am, vows Brian Harman

It’s pretty surreal and it really hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s really cool to hold the Claret Jug and I’m not going to let it out of my sight for the time being for sure.

It was a tough last three days. Being able to get some sleep was big on Saturday, sleeping on a five-shot lead is really difficult, so I was glad with how I hung in there over the last couple of days. I got off to bad starts on both days and

managed to turn it around,

so I’m really happy with how I handled that.

There were some fleeting thoughts throughout the final day about winning, but I just told myself I wasn’t going to let any of that come into my brain. I really honestly didn’t think about winning until I had the ball on the green on No. 18 with a six-shot lead.

I sometimes wondered when is it going to be my turn again as my last win was back in 2017. It’s been hard to deal with sometimes. I think someone had mentioned I’ve had more top 10s than anyone else since 2017, so that’s a lot of times when you get done at a tournament, and you’re thinking I had a chance and it just didn’t happen. So to come here and put on a performance like this, and to be in full control over the weekend, I’m very thankful it happened for me.

Winning this will allow me the privilege of coming back to The Open for a really long time and I look forward to that. Growing up in Georgia and obviously being a huge fan of golf, I’ve always watched The Open Championship. We would wake up early and watch it on TV, and I never knew how much I’d appreciate it until the first time I came over to play in 2014. I just didn’t know what to expect.

You grow up in Georgia, it’s all the Masters. But I came here and I was like, ‘wow, man, this is unbelievable’. The fans are incredible and everyone understands golf over here. It was just a delight to play.

The first few trips over, I missed four cuts, all by one. I played some OK golf, so it wasn’t like I was over here hacking it to pieces. I just couldn’t quite get comfortable, and I felt like maybe I rushed through it too much. Then in 2022, I finally felt like if I had played a little bit better the first couple days, I could have been right there. I was excited to come back here in 2023. I think coming over for the Scottish (Open) helped a lot in getting ready and putting all my eggs in the basket of playing well here.

Whenever we come over to The Open, the weather is always going to be challenging. Saturday was supposed to be terrible, and I got out and it was fantastic weather. Then in the final round, I’m looking at the forecast, and it’s Armageddon. It was bad and really tough. I haven’t historically done very well in the rain and it’s always bugged me. Hence, I was really proud of the way that I struck the ball in the rain to post a one-under 70 in the final round.

A few weeks ago, I found this silly looking mirror-like gadget where it’s got like a little better release pattern. I was kind of “cutting” my putts too much. I spent a lot of time just feeling the ball, almost hitting like a baby draw with my putter, and it’s been really, really good the last month or so. I have not been putting very good in 2023 until June or so, but I found that device in my barn back home and it made sense, and I started putting well with it. I brought it out with me to Royal Liverpool.

With all that’s happened, I don’t see how winning is going to change me. I’ll be in some better tee times going forward and I’ll have to do a couple more interviews at golf tournaments. But I’ve got a great family, I’ve got hobbies that I really like and I have a very comfortable life that I enjoy. I wouldn’t want my life to change one bit at all.

Brian Harman is only the fifth left-hander to triumph in a Major and you can watch him and the best golfers in the world on Mola TV. PGA TOUR