Brian Harman won the 151st Open Championship on Sunday, sealing the first major of his career in dominant fashion.
Amid a sea of umbrellas at a rain-soaked Royal Liverpool, the American weathered a stormy start to lift the Claret Jug, finishing six shots ahead of Australia’s Jason Day, Austria’s Sepp Straka, South Korea’s Tom Kim and Spain’s Jon Rahm.
The 36-year-old had taken a commanding five-stroke lead into the final round and rebounded from two early bogeys to card a closing one-under 70 and finish on 13-under par overall, securing him a $3 million winner’s cut of the $16.5 million prize purse.
Harman, ranked 26th in the world, had previously won twice on the PGA Tour since turning pro in 2009, but a runner-up finish at the 2017 US Open had marked the closest the Georgia-born golfer had come to winning one of the sport’s flagship events.
Victory in the fourth and final men’s major of the year marks the third straight win by an American after Brooks Koepka secured his third PGA Championship and Wyndham Clark won a first career major at the US Open.
Masters champion Rahm and 21-year-old Kim will both be left to rue slow starts after both began the week with rounds of three-over 74.
Rory’s McIlroy’s wait for a fifth major title will tick over to a decade despite yet another strong showing on the biggest stage, as he finished tied-sixth at six-under overall with Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo.
The Northern Irishman won the last time the Open was hosted at Royal Liverpool nine years ago but never looked in serious contention to repeat the feat, as he closed with a 68.
Remarkably, it marks the 34-year-old’s 20th top-10 major finish since his last major triumph at the 2014 US Open, and his third of the year after finishing tied-seventh and second at the PGA Championship and US Open respectively.
