By Martyn Herman
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -American Brian Harman did what Brian Harman does best to take the clubhouse lead at the British Open on Friday — hit fairways, sink putts and leave the stressing to others.
Two years after seizing the halfway lead at Royal Liverpool and going on to lift the Claret Jug by a whopping six strokes, the 38-year-old from Savannah, Georgia is at it again, this timer across the Irish Sea at Royal Portrush.
He carded the lowest round of the tournament, a bogey-free six-under-par 65 to move to eight under and throw down the gauntlet to the chasing pack.
If Harman is interested in omens, he also fired a bogey-free 65 at Hoylake two years ago and was never threatened as he went on to claim his sole major, sapping the spirit of the chasers on a rain-soaked final day with a nerveless display.
There is nothing flashy about the left-handed world number 26 who goes about his business with little fanfare.
Indeed, as he played the 17th hole on Friday, many of the fans perched alongside the fairway seemed oblivious to the fact the Open leader was in their vicinity, instead gazing into the distance for a bird’s eye view of home favourite Rory McIlroy.
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But his unflappable nature and relentless accuracy means that while British links courses mess with the minds of some of his compatriots, Harman feels completely in his element.
“I’ll approach the weekend the same way. The only thing I’m really worried about is the first tee ball tomorrow, and then I’ll try to hit the next one up there close to the flag,” Harman, who lives on a 60-acre ranch, hunts for his own food and drives a tractor, told reporters.
“If not, go to the second hole. It’s a very boring approach that I take. I’m not trying to be heroic or do anything crazy. I know that I’ve got the game to do it. It’s just a matter of executing and staying in my own head.”
Harman enjoys the fact that there are “a million different ways” to play a course like the Dunluce Links, although it took him a while to figure them out as he missed the cut in four successive Open appearances between 2015 and 2019, when it was last staged at Royal Portrush.
“I love the golf over here. It suits me. Distance, of course, matters over here, but it doesn’t matter as much as maybe some other tournaments,” he said.
“You’ve got to know how far everything’s going. Then you can’t get frustrated. Like you’re going to get bad breaks, you’re going to end up in funny spots where it doesn’t seem fair, and you just have to kind of outlast that stuff.”
Asked if he came close to dropping a shot on Friday, Harman struggled to come up with anything more than needing to hole a six-footer to save par at the 11th.
No stress, no drama, just as Harman likes it.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Ed Osmond)
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