Connect with us

News

Brian Harman is the 2023 Open Champion and Champion Golfer of the Year

Published

2 years ago

on

Runaway champions in the major game don’t happen all that often. 15 shots happened in the 2000 US Open, and 8 shots happened three times since, but none after 2014. The owners of those wins were towering figures in the game of golf, at least at the time. Woods, McIlroy, and Kaymer were formidable golfers, and each one’s reputation suggested a sense of intimidation. In 2019, Shane Lowry won by six at Royal Portrush, and he almost fit the mold of the Woods and McIlroys of the golf world.

Brian Harman does not cut a physically-towering figure, nor is his reputation for tour wins one for the record books. The golfer of average height and girth carried a pair of PGA Tour wins into this week’s Open Championship, and neither was more recent than 2017. Harman had led major events with 18 holes to play, but a) it wasn’t yet his time; or b) he didn’t know how to win; or c) both of the above.

How did the Savannah, Georgia native find the way home to victory at Royal Liverpool? How did he seize the lead after 36 holes, then fend off the old, the young, and the in-between, and claim stewardship of the Claret Jug for the entirety of the next year? The answer might be found in a few of his answers to post-round questions on Sunday.

“I haven’t historically done very good in the rain. It’s just always bugged me. I was really proud of the way that I struck the ball in the rain today.”

Imagine for a moment, that you arrive at the golf course, on the biggest day of your golfing life. You gritted out a minus-two round on Saturday, playing in the pressure of the last group. Your reward is another day in the final game of the sport’s grandest stage. And you find that the gentle zephyrs have increased in strength, and the sunny skies have turned gray and moist. And you’re not the game’s best rain player.

“I’ve got a lot of layers, man. I’m like an onion.”

We all know that Brian Harman is a great putter. He’s so good, his distance putts hit the hole dead center, full steam ahead. When he’s dialed in, the only requirement is: find the green in regulation. He also putts pretty well from close in, Through the first 54 holes, Harman was a perfect 44-for-44 on putts ten feet and under. Think about that for a moment. Think about giving yourself the same, ten-feet putt 44 consecutive times, and ask yourself, how many would I make? Well, Harman hits a lot of fairways, and he hits a lot of greens. He’s also pretty handy with a wedge around the green. Like Shrek, Harmans have layers.

“My family is up at a lake house in upstate New York, so I’m going to get there tomorrow evening and I’ll spend three days with them, and we’ll do some fishing and I’ll get to spend some good family time.”

Win, lose, or draw, Harman was headed to Skaneateles to hang with the fam. What’s that? Oh, it’s pronounced skay-knee-AT-uh-luhs. It’s sort of near Syracuse, along the ring finger of the five Finger Lakes. There are absolutely zero flights from England to Syracuse, at least of the direct sort. My guess is that Harman knows a guy who knows a guy, and he’ll get there on a much smaller, fancier plane.

“It’s been hard to deal with. I think someone mentioned that I’ve had more top 10s than anyone since 2017, so that’s a lot of times where you get done, you’re like, dammit, man, I had that one; it just didn’t happen for whatever reason.”

Padraig Harrington, after his Friday round, commented that Harman had the perfect chip on his shoulder. Not too cumbersome, but hefty enough to motivate him. More people than his wife think that Harman is good looking, but he doesn’t have movie-star bones structure, and a quick hat removal reveals a balding head. And then there’s that height thing. Harrington continued that Harman doesn’t fit the mold, and so he doesn’t get the respect and recognition that he’s due. That’s about to change. He had this one, and it did happen, for a lot of reasons.

“After I made the second bogey yesterday, a guy, when I was passing him, he said, Harman, you don’t have the stones for this. That helped.”

As if Harman needed any more motivation. It’s like a scene out of Happy Gilmore, with a paid heckler working opposite the intent. Harman had slow starts on both weekend days, but his deep, internal resolve allowed him to turn the negative into a positive, and break away from the downward spiral. Golfers like Rahm, Kim, McIlroy and others gave chase on both days, but Harman never even cracked the door, much less opened it.

“Yeah, I look forward to coming back for a really long time. … the first time I came I played in 2014. I just didn’t know what to expect … But I came here and I was like, wow, man, this is unbelievable. The fans are incredible. Everyone understands golf over here. It was just a delight to play. Man, I’m stoked. Stoked to come back here.”

Like another fellow from Georgia, I suspect that they’ll welcome him back for a really long time. No matter what they knew or didn’t know, thought or didn’t think, about Brian Harman before this week, this weekend, this day, he now belongs to them. He is their Champion Golf of the Year 2023.

Related Topics:

Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

News

Tour Rundown: Bend, but don’t break

Published

3 weeks ago

on

Aug 4, 2025

By

I’m going to gush in this intro paragraph, to get the emo stuff done early. I’ve not pulled harder for a professional to win, than Cameron Young. I coach golf in New York state, and each spring, my best golfers head to a state championship in Poughkeepsie. I first saw Cameron there as a 9th grade student. I saw him three more times after that. I reconnecected with Coach Haas from Wake Forest, an old interview subject from my days on the Old Gold and Black, the Wake newspaper. He was there to watch Cameron. After four years at Wake Forest, Young won on the Korn Ferry Tour, made it to the big tour, almost won two majors, almost won five other events, and finally got the chalice about 25 minutes from the Wake campus. Congratulations, Cameron. You truly are a glass of the finest. #MotherSoDear

OK, let’s move on to the Tour Rundown. The major championship season closed this week in Wales, with the Women’s Open championship. The PGA Tour bounced through Greensboror, N.C., while the PGA Tour Americas hit TO (aka, Toronto) for a long-winded event. The Korn Ferry lads made a stop in Utah, one of just two events for that tour in August. The many-events, golf season is winding down, as we ease from summer toward fall in the northern hemisphere. Let’s bask in the glory of an August sunrise, and run down a quartet of events from the first weekend of the eighth month.

LET/LPGA @ Women’s Open: Miyu bends, but she doesn’t break

Royal Porthcawl was not a known commodity in the major tournament community. The Welsh links had served as host to men’s senior opens, men’s amateurs, and Curtis and Walker Cups in prior years, but never an Open championship for the women or the men. The last-kept secret in UK golf was revealed once again to the world this week, as the best female golfers took to the sandy stage.

Mao Saigo, Grace Kim, Maja Stark, and Minjee Lee hoped to add a second major title to previous wins this season, but only Lee was able to finish inside the top ten. The 2025 playing of the Women’s Open gave us a new-faces gallery from day one. The Kordas and Thitikulls were nowhere to be found, and it was the Mayashitas, Katsus, and Lim Kims that secured the Cymru spotlight. The first round lead was held at 67 by two golfers. One of them battled to the end, while the other posted 81 on day two, and missed the cut. Sitting one shot behind was Miyu Yamashita.

On day two, Yamashita posted the round of the tournament. Her 65 moved her to the front of the aisle, in just her fourth turn around a women’s Open championship. With the pre-event favorites drifting off pace, followers narrowed into two camps: those on the side of an underdog, and others hoping for a weekend charge from back in the pack. In the end, we had a bit of both.

On Saturday, Yamashita bent with 74 on Saturday, offering rays of hope to her pursuing pack. England’s Charley Hull made a run on Sunday closing within one shot before tailing off to a T2 finish with Minami Katsu. Katsu posted the other 65 of the week, on Saturday, but could not overtake her countrywoman, Yamashita. wunderkind Lottie Woad needed one round in the 60s to find her pace, but could only must close-to’s, ending on 284 and a tie with Minjee for eighth.

On Sunday, Yamashita put away the thoughts of Saturday’s struggles, with three-under 33 on the outward half. She closed in plus-one 37, but still won by two, for a first Major and LPGA title.

PGA Tour @ Wyndham: Young gathers first title near home

Cameron Young grew up along the Hudson river, above metro New York, but he also calls Winston-Salem home. He spent four years as a student and athlete at Wake Forest University, then embarked on tour. This week in Greensboro, after a bit of a break, Young opened with 63-62, and revved the engine of Is this the week once more. Runner-up finishes at the Open, the PGA, and a handful of PGA Tour events had followers wonder when the day would come.

On Saturday, Young continued his torrid pace with 65, giving him a five-shot advantage over his closest pursuer. Sunday saw the Scarborough native open with bogey, then reel off five consecutive birdies to remind folks that his time had, at last, arrived. Pars to the 16th, before two harmless bogeys coming home, made Young the 1000th winner of an official PGA Tour event (dating back to before there was a PGA Tour) throughout history. What’s next? I have a suspicion, but I’m not letting on. Mac Meissner closed with 66 to finish solo 2nd, while Mark Hubbard and Alex Noren tied for third.

Korn Ferry Tour @ Utah Championship: Are you Suri it’s Julian?

Who knows exactly when the flower will bloom? Julian Suri played a solid careet at Duke University, then paid his dues on the world’s minor tours for three years. He won twice on two tours in Europe, in 2017. Since then, the grind has continued for the journeyman from New York city. At age 34, Suri broke through in Beehive state, outlasting another grinder (Spencer Levin) and four others, by two shots.

Taylor Montgomery began the week with 62, then posted 64, then 68, and finally, 70. That final round was his undoing. He finished in that second-place tie, two back of the leader. Trace Crowe, Barend Botha, and Kensei Hirata made up the last of the almost quintet. As for Suri, his Sunday play was sublime. His nines were 32 and 31, with his only radar blip a bogey at ten. He closed in style with one final birdie, to double his winning margin. Hogan bloomed late…might Suri?

PGA Tour Americas @ Osprey Valley Open presented by Votorantim Cimentos – CBM Aggregates

Some tournament names run longer than others. This week in Toronto, at the Heathlands course at TPC Toronto, we might have seen the longest tournament title in recorded history. The OVOPBVCCBMA was a splendid affair. It saw three rounds of 62 on Thursday, but of those early risers, only Drew Goodman would stick around until the end. 64 was the low tally on day two, and two of those legionnaires managed to finish inside the top three at week’s end. Saturday brought a 63 from Patrick Newcomb, and he would follow with 64 on Sunday, to finish solo fourth.

Who, then, ended up winning the acronym of the year? It turns out that Carson Bacha had the right stuff in TeeOhhh. Bacha and Jay Card III posted 63 and 64, respectively, on day four, to tie for medalist honors at 23-under 261. Nathan Franks was one shot adrift, despite also closing with 63. If you didn’t go low on Sunday, it was about the check, not the championship.

Bacha and JC3 returned to the 18th hole twice in overtime. Card nearly chipped in from the thick stuff for birdie, while Bacha peeked and shoved a ten-feet attempt at the win. On the second go-round, Card was long with his approach, into the native grasses once more. He was unable to escape, and a routine par from the fairway was enough to earn the former Auburn golfers a first KFT title.

Continue Reading

Tour Photo Galleries

Photos from the 2025 Wyndham Championship

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 29, 2025

By

GolfWRX is live this week from the final event of the PGA Tour’s regular season, the Wyndham Championship.

Photos are flowing into the forums from Sedgefield Country Club, where we already have a GolfWRX spirit animal Adam Schenk WITB and plenty of putters for your viewing pleasure.

Check out links to all our photos below, which we’ll continue to update as more arrive.

General Albums

WITB Albums

Pullout Albums

See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.

 

Continue Reading

News

BK’s Breakdowns: Kurt Kitayama’s Winning WITB, 3M Open

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Jul 28, 2025

By

Kurt Kitayama just won his 2nd PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. Kurt is a Bridgestone staffer but with just the ball and bag. Here are the rest of the clubs he used to secure a win at the 2025 3M Open.

Driver: Titleist GT3 (11 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD VF 7 TX

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees, A3 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 8 TX

7-wood: Titleist GT1 (21 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 9 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7CB (4), TaylorMade P7MB (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (52-12F, 56-14F), Vokey Design WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Newport 2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy 1.0PT

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B XS (with Mindset)

Continue Reading

WITB

Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)

Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.  Driver: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag3 weeks ago

Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)

Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
Whats in the Bag4 weeks ago

WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship

Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...

Facebook

Trending