As Brian Harman walked to the first tee Saturday to start his third round at the British Open, just steps away Jon Rahm was finishing his with yet another birdie. It was his eighth on the day, capping a stellar round of 63.
Harman had woken up with a five-shot lead at Royal Liverpool, but by the time he teed off, Rahm had climbed to within four. The two-time major winner had re-announced his presence loud and clear, putting the pressure squarely on Harman.
When the rain came for a brief shower, and Harman bogeyed two of his first four holes, paring his lead all the way down to just two, it looked like the moment would swallow him up — that the charge of the third-ranked player in the world would rattle him. But then it didn’t.
Harman bounced back with a pair of birdies on his front nine, then two more on the back to regain the advantage he had going into the day.
At 12-under, he’s five shots clear of Cameron Young, six ahead of Rahm.
“It would have been really easy to let the wheels start spinning and really kind of let it get out of control, but I just kind of doubled down on my routine and knew I was hitting it well, even though I hadn’t hit any good shots yet,” Harman said of his rough start. “Staying patient out there is paramount. Sometimes it’s a lot harder than others. But really proud of the way that I hung in there.”
For the 36-year-old Harman, this becomes the biggest moment of a professional career that began in 2010. He’s long been a steady player who produces consistent but unspectacular results. He’s won twice, but not since 2017. That same year he held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open. But a final round 72 to Brooks Koepka’s 67 left him in a tie for second.
That’s the closest he’s ever been to winning a major … until now.
Most of major golf history says Harman will be lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday night. Only once has a player blown a 54-hole lead larger than four strokes — Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters, when he led by six going into the final round.
That collapse was a combination of Norman blowing up and Nick Faldo going low.
Chasing Harman will be Young, Rahm and a host of players at 5-under, including Viktor Hovland, Tommy Fleetwood and Jason Day. Aside from Rahm, it’s mostly a group looking to break through in a major (Young, Hovland and Fleetwood) or get back to where they once were (Day).
With steady rain throughout the day expected Sunday, low scores may be hard to come by, but high ones would definitely be in play.
“Tomorrow we’re going to plan on the same plan of attack as the last few days,” Young said. “You just kind of have to see how the first couple holes play out tomorrow and then you maybe start aiming at things that you might not otherwise.”
When Harman held the 54-hole lead at the 2017 U.S. Open, he said he thought about things too much going into the final round. “Just didn’t focus on getting sleep and eating right,” he said earlier this week.
His plan for Saturday night: hit some balls, “eat something agreeable,” maybe read a book, not look at his phone and get to bed early.
“I’ve thought about winning majors for my whole entire life,” Harman said. “It’s the whole reason I work as hard as I do and why I practice as much as I do and why I sacrifice as much as I do.
“Tomorrow if that’s going to come to fruition for me, it has to be all about the golf. It has to be execution and just staying in the moment.”
