American Brian Harman produced a stunning six-shot victory to lift his maiden major title at the Open Championship, the year’s final men’s major, at Royal Liverpool. In capturing his third PGA Tour win, the 36-year-old became only the fifth left-hander to triumph in a major championship and he achieved the feat in style by outclassing a world-class field with some terrific golf over the weekend, which was played under treacherous links weather.
Good for you, Brian. You are now the Champion Golfer of the Year, and as Cameron Smith was tearfully reminded last week, you’ve only got a year before you have to give that special trophy back. So drink up.
The Champion Golfer of the Year in 2023 produced a performance not as miraculous as Cam Smith’s last year but equally strong in the circumstances of today.
The ice-cool left-hander, who took a five-shot lead into the final round and won by six, doesn’t plan on his life evolving too much now that he’s the Champion Golfer of the Year.
Beneath that veneer of positivity, there must surely linger some doubt. What does the Belfast boy need to do to turn things round? It is obvious: he needs to putt better.
Travis Smyth, the 28-year-old Asian Tour pro from Kiama in New South Wales who played part of last year on LIV Golf, may not claim the claret jug this year, but he can always claim a Hoylake tournament first.
It wasn’t the flat patch of land or Hoylake’s calm conditions that defined the opening 18 holes of the year’s final men’s major, but, rather, the devilish bunkers (81 overall) that litter the place.
Leading into the tournament we were warned about all of Hoylake’s internal out-of-bounds and told by one top coach that the course’s new par 3 “could ruin somebody’s career”. But it was an old links standard that caused this disaster: the pot bunker.