UGA Alum Brian Harman Wins the The Open Championship

Former Georgia golfer Brian Harman won The Open Championship over the weekend, the first major of his career.

The best players in professional golf assembled at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England this weekend to compete in The Open Championship, but it was Georgia Alum Brian Harman who outdueled them all to walk away with this year's Claret Jug in dominant fashion. 

The Champion Golfer of the Year. pic.twitter.com/wAFKiddk0e

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 23, 2023

With three top-12 and two top-10 finishes in his last three tournaments on the PGA Tour coming into the final major of the season, Harman has been playing great golf of late, but he saved his best for the big stage. After posting an opening round 67, the Georgia alum shot a second-round 65 on Friday to take a 5-stroke lead into Saturday's third round. The field would never get any closer. Harman shot a 69 on Saturday to maintain his 5-stroke lead going into Sunday's final round. Facing tough course conditions, Harman posted a 1-under 70 on Sunday to finish 13-under for the tournament and win The Open Championship by 6-strokes. 

The win in England marks the third career PGA Tour win and first major championship for the Savannah, Georgia native. Entering the weekend, Harman's last PGA Tour win came in 2017 at the Wells Fargo Championship where he posted a 1-shot victory over two-time major champion Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez. Prior to that, Harman's only other win on Tour came in 2014 at the John Deere Classic, another narrow 1-shot victory. His previous best finish at a major championship came in 2017 when he finished 2nd at the U.S. Open

Brian Harman holds the Claret Jug after winning the 2023 British Open by 6-strokes

However, despite the narrow margins in his two previous PGA Tour wins, the 36-year-old Georgia Alum's first major victory was a runaway. After maintaining his 5-shot lead going into the final round on Sunday, Harman became only the 10th golfer in history to hold at least a 5-stroke lead after both the second and third rounds of a major championship. The Savannah native is also only the third golfer in history to lead by 5-strokes or more at The Open Championship.  

While it was Harman who stole the show in England over the weekend, another former Georgia golfer Sepp Straka finished in second at 7-under with Jason Day, Tom Kim, and Jon Rahm to make it a truly banner tournament for the Georgia Golf program. 

Along with the coveted Claret Jug, Harman also earned $3 million, part of the record $16.5 million purse for this year's British Open. The victory in England pushed the Georgia alum's career earnings over the $30 million mark and moved him inside the top-20 of the FedEx Cup Standings, putting him in an extremely strong position to earn a bid to the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta in late August.

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