Brian Harman

Brian Harman
Harman in 2015
Personal information
Full nameBrian Eric Harman
NicknameThe Butcher[1]
Born (1987-01-19) January 19, 1987 (age 37)
Savannah, Georgia, U.S.
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceSt. Simons, Georgia, U.S.
Spouse
Kelly Van Slyke
​
(m. 2014)​
Children3
Career
CollegeUniversity of Georgia
Turned professional2009
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)eGolf Professional Tour
Professional wins5
Highest ranking8 (August 13, 2023)[2]
(as of February 4, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour3
European Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentT12: 2021
PGA ChampionshipT13: 2017
U.S. OpenT2: 2017
The Open ChampionshipWon: 2023

Brian Eric Harman (born January 19, 1987) is an American professional golfer from Savannah, Georgia. He plays on the PGA Tour, on which he has won three tournaments, including a major championship victory at the 2023 Open Championship. He also finished as a runner-up at the 2017 U.S. Open. He plays left-handed.

Amateur career

In college, Harman was a three-time 2nd Team All-American on the University of Georgia golf team. He won the 2005 NCAA Preview and the 2006 Isleworth Invitational. He also won the yearly award for highest Grade Point Average three times.

In 2003, Harman won the U.S. Junior Amateur.[3] He won the Players Amateur in 2005,[4] and the Porter Cup in 2007, shooting a tournament record 22-under-par 258.[5]

Harman played on the winning 2005 and 2009 Walker Cup and 2007 Palmer Cup teams. He was the youngest-ever member of the Walker Cup team when he debuted in 2005.[6]

Professional career

Harman at the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii.

In 2010, Harman played mostly on the EGolf Professional Tour finishing in the top-10 in 11 of his 14 starts. He gained his first pro victory at the Manor Classic where he won by three shots. He also played in three Nationwide Tour events in 2010. His best showing came at the Stadion Athens Classic at UGA where he placed T-18th on his former college course.

Harman was known for a unique situation at the 2012 Players Championship. He was the first alternate when D. A. Points withdrew just minutes before his tee time. Playing partners Carl Pettersson and Robert Garrigus had already teed off and after consulting with the PGA, tournament officials allowed Harman to tee off alone for the first round.[7] Harman eventually got partnered with Ryan Moore and Bud Cauley for round two after Paul Casey withdrew. Harman made the cut and finished T51.

Harman later qualified for his first major, the 2012 U.S. Open. His first PGA Tour win was the 2014 John Deere Classic. In 2015, Harman held the 54 hole lead at the Travelers Championship, but would miss the playoff, won by Bubba Watson, by one stroke and finished in solo third.[citation needed]

On August 30, 2015, at The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey, Harman became the third player in PGA Tour history to have two aces in the same round.[8][9]

On May 7, 2017, Harman won the Wells Fargo Championship held at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina, for his second PGA Tour win. Harman made a 28-foot putt on the 18th hole to win by one stroke over Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez, who finished at 9-under-par.[citation needed]

Harman held the 54-hole lead at the 2017 U.S. Open played at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin.[10] He entered the final round one stroke clear of three players, at 12 under par, and was the first time he had played in the final group of a major during the final round. He finished in a tie for second place with Hideki Matsuyama, four strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka, following a final round 72.[11]

Harman finished in solo second at the 2022 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, four shots behind winner Russell Henley. This was Harman's best finish on the PGA Tour for over five years. He followed this up with a tie for second in his next appearance at the RSM Classic, two shots behind winner Adam Svensson.

In July 2023, Harman won the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool by six strokes for his first major championship title, becoming only the third left-handed Open champion (alongside Bob Charles and Phil Mickelson), and fifth left-handed major champion (with Mike Weir and Bubba Watson). Harman took control of the championship in the second round, carding a 65 that beat the field scoring average by more than eight strokes. He maintained a five-shot lead going into the final round before ultimately winning The Open by six.[12] At 125-to-1 odds to win, Harman was considered to be a surprise winner.[13]

In September 2023, Harman played on the U.S. team in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia, Rome, Italy. The European team won 16.5–11.5 and Harman went 2–2–0 including a loss in his Sunday singles match against Tyrrell Hatton.[14]

Personal life

Harman married Kelly Van Slyke on December 13, 2014. They have three children. The family resides in St. Simons Island, Georgia.[15][16][17] Harman enjoys hunting.[18]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (2)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Jul 13, 2014 John Deere Classic 63-68-65-66=262 −22 1 stroke United States Zach Johnson
2 May 7, 2017 Wells Fargo Championship 71-69-70-68=278 −10 1 stroke United States Dustin Johnson, United States Pat Perez
3 Jul 23, 2023 The Open Championship 67-65-69-70=271 −13 6 strokes Australia Jason Day, South Korea Tom Kim,
Spain Jon Rahm, Austria Sepp Straka

eGolf Professional Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 Sep 11, 2010 Manor Classic 69-65-70-68=272 −12 3 strokes United States Jason Kokrak, United States Drew Weaver

Other wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runners-up
1 Dec 9, 2018 QBE Shootout
(with United States Patton Kizzire) 		59-66-61=186 −30 1 stroke Argentina Emiliano Grillo and Northern Ireland Graeme McDowell

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runners-up
2023 The Open Championship 5 shot lead −13 (67-65-69-70=271) 6 strokes Australia Jason Day, South Korea Tom Kim,
Spain Jon Rahm, Austria Sepp Straka

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Masters Tournament CUT T44
U.S. Open CUT CUT T2 T36
The Open Championship T26 CUT CUT CUT
PGA Championship T40 CUT T13 T71
Tournament 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Masters Tournament T12 CUT CUT
PGA Championship CUT T58 CUT T34 CUT
U.S. Open T38 T19 T43 T43
The Open Championship CUT NT T19 T6 1
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
Masters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 2
PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 5
U.S. Open 0 1 0 1 1 2 8 6
The Open Championship 1 0 0 1 2 3 8 4
Totals 1 1 0 2 3 7 30 17
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 3 (three times)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
The Players Championship T51 CUT CUT T8 T54 T53 CUT T8 C T3 T63 T44
  Top 10

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Championship T5
Match Play R16 NT1 QF T35 T17
Invitational 65 T50 62 T36
Champions 8 72 NT1 NT1 NT1

1Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10
  Did not play

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

  1. ^ Cary, Tom (July 21, 2023). "Brian 'the butcher' Harman cuts through the Open field at Hoylake". The Telegraph. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  2. ^ "Week 32 2023 Ending 13 Aug 2023" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
  3. ^ "2003 Junior Amateur" (PDF). USGA.
  4. ^ "Players Amateur champions". Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  5. ^ "Porter Cup champions". Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  6. ^ Gregory, Abigail (July 26, 2023). "Brian Harman Wins First Round Of The Open Championship". The Savannah Tribune. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  7. ^ McCabe, Jim (May 10, 2012). "Alternate Harman squeezes into Players field". Golfweek.
  8. ^ Porath, Brendan (August 30, 2015). "PGA Tour pro makes incredible two holes-in-one in same round at Barclays". SB Nation.
  9. ^ Staats, Wayne (October 29, 2018). "These are the only three golfers to make two holes-in-one in same PGA Tour round". PGA of America. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  10. ^ "Justin Thomas shoots 63, but Brian Harman takes 54-hole lead". June 17, 2017.
  11. ^ "Brooks Koepka wins U.S. Open, ties Rory McIlroy's scoring mark". ESPN. Associated Press. June 18, 2017.
  12. ^ Ray, Justin (July 23, 2023). "Open Championship analysis: What to know from Brian Harman's dominant win". The Athletic. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  13. ^ "Huge betting long shot Brian Harman wins 2023 Open Championship". Fox Sports. July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  14. ^ "Ryder Cup 2023 – Scoring".
  15. ^ "Brian Harman". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  16. ^ Cradock, Matt. "Who Is Brian Harman's Wife?". Golf Monthly. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  17. ^ "Brian Harmon". PGA Tour. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  18. ^ Ryan, Shane (July 23, 2023). "British Open 2023: Why Brian Harman hunts animals, in his own words". Golf Digest. Retrieved August 4, 2023.

External links