Brian Harman, champion of a British Open that was not enough for Jon Rahm

Brian Harmana 36-year-old American, the new Champion Golfer of the Year, a distinction which the Royal & Ancient classifies the winner of British tomorrow. He deservedly won, with enough laps under par to lead from day two. All credit therefore to him.

He did it in Royal Liverpool, in Hoylake (England), with 271 strokes, after staying calm and patient, and also continuing to make the putts that had to be made, on a very rainy and unpleasant afternoon. On the 18th he holed out for par, a card of 70 strokes and -13. Water fell on the blanket, he accepted the Jug at the foot of the green.

Jon Rahm, who started third at 6 strokes, He never had the spark that led him to the fight for the Jug, he didn’t live his day this time with the putt, but in the end he tied for 2nd, with a final birdie!, 70 shots and a total of 277, which got a standing ovation from the big stands at hole 18. This was his best result by a British, surpassing Sandwich 2.2.

Harman is the fourth American golfer to win at the British at Hoylake, joining an impressive list: Walter Hagen (1924), Bobby Jones (1930) and Tiger Woods (2006). And the third left-hander in history to lift the Jug after the New Zealander Bob Charles (1963) and his compatriot Phil Mickelson (2013).

With 29 top tens since the 2017-18 season, Harman ended the longest winless streak by a player on the circuit. It is only the third after the John Deere Classic, which opened the doors for the British to play in 2014 at Royal Liverpool, which debuted in a 26th tie, and Wells Fargo in 2017.

In his eighth Open, his best finish until this Sunday was tied for 6th in 2022 at Saint Andrews. And this time, he turned his lead into a ‘major’ into success after leading the 2017 US Open and tying for 2nd.

There was a key moment on the first nine holes that could have changed the course of the round. Harman had just made bogey on hole 2 and Jon was very lucky when his drive on hole 5 went into the rough to the left and when the most normal thing would be for the ball to be swallowed by the bushes, it was perfect for him in a corridor and with a second shot on the green. When he got to the area he saw how lucky he was, he played his second shot, just short of the green and with two putts he signed for birdie-4, putting himself at -7, second alone.

Behind, Harman hit from the tee in the same direction as the Basque and his ball was swallowed by the bushes, he had to fall with a penalty, backwards to have a better shot line. From the third stroke he played to risk the green, he couldn’t get there and this time he couldn’t chip and putt the second bogey and dropped to -10.

Barrika recovered three shots, but the American, unfazed, chained two birdies in a row at 6 and 7 and reopened the gap to 5 shots, which compared to the Spaniard was six when Jon missed the green on 9 and missed two putts from the trough to the left.

From there it became a fierce battle between several players for the second place as the first was owned by someone in the person of Harman. Without a drop of wind, in the incessant rain, yes, and the strongest and longest course, and the slowest greens, none of the chasers can engage in fifth gear and put more pressure on the leader, who alone can open the door to rely on his rivals and only he will lose the Open.

These are very difficult conditions because you have to constantly dry the grips of the clubs, make sure the glove is not too wet, recalculate the speed of the greens with the water falling… It is raining and this situation went well for Harman thanks to the comfortable advantage he had.

Hitting the fairways, reaching the greens and two-putting with no problem on most holes, Harman let the holes roll by. In pursuit of Rahm, the Biscayan missed hitting the table over the final stretch of the first nine holes and posted a -9. In fact, he only had one clear chance, off the 5th hole, on the 8th hole and his birdie putt was left licking the rim.

The last option disappeared with Rahm’s bogey on the 14th hole, having the ball on the fairway, he missed the shot on the green, and visited the rough on the left. He played a poor chip down, leaving a long par putt that miraculously missed. Harman made bogey on the first, meaning the distance was still 5 strokes and there were players in the middle.

But minutes later the American left-hander hit a monumental joint on that 14th hole and sealed the tournament. The history of this final tournament is written that simply. In case I wasn’t clear, on hole 15 he also holed out and got -13, a figure that was clearly out of reach.

Rory McIlroy finished with a 68 for 278, tied with Emiliano Grillo. Tom Kim, Sepp Straka and Jason Day are also looking for second place. Kim finished with a 67 for 277. Straka, who in the end was the only one holding Harman because he played so well but missed a lot of putts, closed with a bogey on 18 and 277. And Day also signed the final -7. Unbeatable, Rahm was fourth tied for second place.