U.S. golfer Brian Harman won the British Open on Sunday, easily fending off four other golfers by six shots to capture his first major championship.
Harman, the 26th-ranked player in the world, grabbed the lead in the year’s last major championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, after Friday’s second round in the four-day tournament and never relinquished it.
British golf fans cheered for other players in hopes they could catch the 36-year-old, left-handed player and shouted some taunts at him that Harman said were “unrepeatable.”
But with other players unable to cut into his lead in a steady rain, Harman finally won cheers Sunday as he sank a 12-meter putt for a birdie on the par-4-14th hole and a shorter putt for another birdie on the par-5 15th.
He finished the 72-hole tournament at 271, 13 under par and 6 shots ahead of South Korea's Tom Kim, Austria's Sepp Straka, Australia’s Jason Day and Spain's Jon Rahm.
It was Harman’s first victory on the professional golf circuit since 2017. He collected $3 million for the win, and the tournament’s ornate Claret Jug.
