Harman, who went five shots into the final day, played a round of 70s to close out the $16.5 million tournament. That was enough to always keep his opponents at a distance. The 36-year-old’s first major win was sweetened with the legendary Claret Jug trophy and $3 million in prize money.
“I’m 36. I always believed I could do it. But when it takes that long, it’s difficult to follow your dream,” said Harman, who last won the Tour six years ago. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, has to wait, the Northern Irishman finished sixth, his last major triumph was nine years ago.
Reuters/Lorraine Osullivan The American Brian Harman secured victory at the British Open
Final round with ups and downs
In typical English conditions – drizzle and 17 degrees – Straka started the final round with a stroke loss, but he made up for it with birdies on holes three and five. As a result, the 30-year-old missed opportunities to win more shots, the short game on the greens did not go as desired. Straka managed another birdie on hole nine, but this was followed by a bogey on hole ten after a botched short putt.
Further down the back nine of the par 71 course, he managed birdies on holes eleven and 16 with a bogey at the final hole. That not only cost Straka second place, but also around $600,000 in prize money. At almost 1.1 million dollars, the monetary reward was still lavish.
“I’m very satisfied. I haven’t played very good links golf in the past, I didn’t have much experience there,” said Straka, who was affected by the wet weather: “It’s difficult to be aggressive there. Hats off to Brian for playing in these conditions.”
Recommendation for Ryder Cup ticket
All in all, Straka’s performance in Hoylake was a convincing letter of recommendation to the European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, who nominated his team for the traditional continental comparison with the USA in Rome (September 25 to October 1) at the beginning of September.
“That’s a big goal. I’m really happy to have a chance,” said the Viennese, who met Donald this week. “He knows I want to be on the team and hopefully I can show that with my Golf and make the decision easy for him.”
Straka confirms good form
The Austrian confirmed his brilliant form. Two weeks ago, the University of Georgia graduate clinched his second PGA title by winning the John Deere Classic. Before the tournament, Straka had changed his caddie, borrowing Duane Block from Kevin Kisner, who is currently on a break. As “The Open” now shows, this seems to be a promising pairing.
The athlete, who lives in the USA, had already shown in May at the PGA Championship that he has to be reckoned with in the major tournaments as well, where he achieved the first top ten result by an Austrian golfer in one of the four major traditional tournaments with seventh place. Now comes the first top three place in Hoylake. Previously, Markus Brier had held the record at the British Open in 2007 with twelfth place.
Straka celebrated his debut victory on the PGA Tour in February 2022 at the Honda Classic, thereby setting new standards for Austrian golf. As a result, he was the first red-white-red golfer to take part in the Tour finals of the top 30 in Atlanta and in the Tiger Woods invitational tournament in the Bahamas, an accolade in the sport of the little white ball.
151. British Open in Hoylake
Final score after four rounds (par 71): 1. Brian Harman USA 67 65 69 70 271 2.
Sepp Straka
AUT 71 67 70 69 277 . Tom Kim KOR 74 68 68 67 277 . Jason Day AUS 72 67 69 69 277 . Jon Rahm ESP 74 70 63 70 277 6. Rory McIlroy NIR 71 70 69 68 278 . Emiliano Grillo ARG 66 74 70 68 278 8. Shubhankar Sharma IND 68 71 70 70 279 . Cameron Young USA 72 68 66 73 279 10. Max Homa USA 68 73 70 69 280 . Matthew Jordan ENG 69 72 69 70 280 . Tommy Fleetwood ENG 66 71 71 72 280 13. Henrik Stenson SWE 73 68 71 69 281 . Hideki Matsuyama JPN 70 72 69 70 281 . Thomas Detry BEL 74 69 67 71 281 . Viktor Hovland NOR 70 72 66 73 281 Also (selection): 17. Xander Schauffele USA 70 74 68 70 282 20. Antoine Rozner FRA 67 74 67 75 283 23. Scottie Scheffler USA 70 75 72 67 284 . Jordan Spieth USA 69 71 71 73 284 33. Patrick Cantlay USA 70 75 67 73 285 . Cameron Smith AUS 72 72 68 73 285 . Wyndham Clark USA 68 73 71 73 285 41. Matthew Fitzpatrick ENG 72 72 67 75 286 64. Brooks Koepka USA 70 75 72 75 292