Open Championship leader Brian Harman dreaming about clinching first major
- Planet Sport writer
- 23 July 2023
With a five-shot lead over the chasing pack, Open Championship leader Brian Harman admits it would be foolish not to think about winning his first major as he heads into Sunday.
Only two players in history have lost a five-shot lead after 54 holes of the Open, Macdonald Smith in 1925 and Jean van de Velde at Carnoustie in 1999, which will offer the 36-year-old plenty of encouragement.
But the American, who failed to close out victory in his only other third-round lead - albeit only by a stroke - in a major at the 2017 US Open, is taking nothing for granted.
Having seen his enjoyment of hunting fully explored by the media this week, he intends to fall back on what he has learned in that discipline when he goes out with compatriot and last year's runner-up Cameron Young.
"You'd be foolish not to envision (lifting the Claret Jug) and I've thought about winning majors for my whole entire life," said Harman, who said he was hoping to get a good 10 hours of sleep ahead of the biggest day of his career.
"It's the whole reason I work as hard as I do and why I practise 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.
"The patience and the strategy (of hunting) for sure (has helped). When I go out turkey hunting I can spend all day out there. Hunting is something else that I do that makes me lose track of time."
Harman dropped shots at the first and fourth, but he responded superbly with birdies on the fifth, ninth, 12th and 13th to maintain the five-shot advantage he held at halfway as he closed on 12 under.
It was another impressive display, especially as he was playing with local favourite and Everton fan Tommy Fleetwood and was on the receiving end of some "unrepeatable" comments from fans rooting for the man from Southport.
"I'd be lying if I didn't hear some things that weren't super nice towards me," he added.
"I hear them, but, at the same time I don't try to let that influence the decision I'm about to make."
