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There were plenty of notable names to keep an eye on when the best golfers on the planet made the trek to Royal Liverpool Golf Club last week for the tournament most American fans refer to as The British Open.
Based on the odds that were posted before the event got underway, Brian Harman wasn’t one of them, but he quickly emerged as the man to beat thanks to a couple of stellar rounds that saw him head into the weekend at -10, which was five strokes better than his closest competitor.
Harman boasted an equally dominant lead by the time Moving Day wrapped up, and he never really looked back, as he coasted to a six-stroke victory by finishing at -13 under when The Open officially wrapped up on Sunday to earn the right to drink beers out of the Claret Jug and secure the $3,000,000 he walked away with after winning the first major of his career.
There were a few keys to Harman’s decisive win.
He was largely able to avoid the imposing bunkers that made life very miserable for many of the golfers who ended up in them during the tournament, but he also put on an absolute clinic on the greens thanks to the absolutely stellar putting that set him apart from the rest of the pack.
Brian Harman drained 58/59 putts within 10 feet.
That’s a 98.3% clip. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/5zp1gWvgGO
— Covers (@Covers) July 23, 2023
As I alluded to above, there weren’t many people who thought Hartman had what it took to do what he did, although there’s one notable name who saw it coming long before it actually happened: Norm Macdonald.
Macdonald—who passed away following a draw with cancer in 2021—was a massive fan of golf, and if you followed him on Twitter prior to his death, you know he frequently posted about the sport he was incredibly knowledgeable about.
In March of 2018, Harman was the subject of one of those posts, as Macdonald praised his game while predicting he’d win multiple majors with the help of his “easy perfection with the blade” on the putting green, which is pretty prophetic when you consider what unfolded at Royal Liverpool.
Sure, Macdonald may have thought Harman would win a green jacket before a Claret Jug, but that’s still pretty impressive.