Brian Harman has only 1 concern as he eyes another Open title

As the grey clouds arrived Friday during the second round of the Open Championship, an ominous figure marched his way down the 18th at Royal Portrush to put the finishing touches on a bogey-free, 6-under 65. It was Brian Harman, once playfully dubbed the “Butcher of Hoylake,” 2023 Open Champion, methodically carving up another links course.

Two years ago, at Royal Liverpool, the Georgia Bulldog shot 6-under on Friday to earn a five-shot lead. Here we were again. And Friday at Portrush felt eerily similar. Harman found himself in real trouble only once — on the difficult par-4 11th — but he got up-and-down for par and cruised into the clubhouse with the lead as the weather began to shift.

“I think that places like this force you to be a little bit more creative,” Harman said of his stellar play on links courses. “It’s not so much of an aerial attack. There’s probably 10 different types of clubs, irons, drivers, woods that you can hit off the tee. There’s different ways to attack into the green, and there’s almost always a hill that will kind of kill a shot coming into the green. I don’t know, I just enjoy the creativity and trying to think your way around. You don’t necessarily — you’re not forced to hit certain shots. You can kind of do it your own way.”

In doing it his “own way” Friday, Harman made Royal Portrush, a course that has proven confusing, look easy.

The brutal par-4 first? Harman split the fairway, hit his approach to three feet and made an opening birdie. A birdie at the par-5 second followed. He turned in 3-under before making birdies at 10 and 13. A closing birdie at the 18th got Harman into the clubhouse at eight under and in position to win his second Claret Jug.

Harman’s win at Hoylake caught everyone by surprise. It was a legacy changer for a player who had been dominant at every level before arriving on the PGA Tour. He had been a consistent pro but lacked the big win many thought would always come during his impressive junior and collegiate career.

When he finally broke through two years ago, Harman got a taste of who he was always meant to be. Two years later, after an up-and-down post-Open win run, Harman is stalking another major title and looking better than ever.

“I think I was quoted afterwards saying I’d spend the rest of my life trying to get in a position to feel this again because it is, it’s the top of our profession, major championships,” Harman said. “Any time you can get in contention, have a chance to win, I mean, that’s what we’ve all worked for our entire lives and you don’t get that many opportunities to do that.”

Harman has a win under his belt this year at the Valero Texas Open, but his recent form has been scratchy at best. He’s 26th in the OWGR and 19th in the FedEx Cup. Since his win at the Valero, he has finished T3 at the RBC Heritage and eighth at the Travelers. But he hasn’t finished better than T36 at any of the majors and is coming off a T50 finish at the Genesis Scottish Open. Harman ranks 83rd in Strokes Gained this season and is losing strokes on approach this year.

But that win at Hoylake gave Harman something other than the Claret Jug and a ticket back to golf’s oldest major for a few decades. It allowed him to breathe and give himself some grace when things aren’t clicking.

“I actually think it’s made me probably more patient with myself, just knowing that you’re capable of something like that,” Harman said. “Like you know it’s in there, and it would be really easy when things aren’t going your way to get frustrated. But it’s all just, hey, you start seeing signs that things are going the right way and it’s like all right. I actually think I’ve been pretty patient the last couple years without having the results that maybe I should have had, if that makes sense.”

When Harman ran away from the field at Hoylake, the British press developed a fascination with his love of hunting. That took Harman by surprise, but his love of hunting remains.

Over the weekend in Northern Ireland, he’ll be hunting a win that will take him from the unexpected major winner category to a two-time Champion Golfer of the Year — it’s a win that will truly change how the golf world views Brian Harman.

He’ll be both the hunter and the hunted this weekend at Portrush. That’s a position the 38-year-old is comfortable with. He only has one concern as he looks forward to a weekend that could alter his golf legacy — his first swing Saturday.

“I’ll approach the weekend the same way,” Harman said. “The only thing I’m really worried about is the first tee ball tomorrow, and then I’ll try to hit the next one up there close to the flag. If not, go to the second hole. It’s a very boring approach that I take. I’m not trying to be heroic or do anything crazy. I know that I’ve got the game to do it, and it’s just a matter of executing and staying in my own head.”