Who is Brian Harman? 5 things you probably didn’t know about the Open Championship leader

The 2023 Open Championship is Brian Harman’s to lose as the 36-year-old holds a commanding five-shot lead heading into the final round at Royal Liverpool.

A 12-year PGA Tour veteran, Harman has been around the pro golf scene for quite some time, but the World No. 26 is still a mystery to most golf lfans.

If you didn’t know of the two-time PGA Tour winner before he burst into a five-shot, 54-hole lead at the Open, let us be the first to teach you. Keep reading below for five things you probably didn’t know about Brian Harman.

He was a standout amateur

Before becoming a three-time All-American at the University of Georgia, Harman won the 2003 U.S. Junior Amateur. He didn’t stop there, either, winning the prestigious Porter Cup in 2007.

Harman made his PGA Tour debut at age 17 at the 2004 MCI Heritage, and made his first cut later that year at the Buick Championship.

He also represented the USA three times in team competitions; competing in both the 2007 Palmer Cup and the 2005 and 2009 Walker Cups.

And as you can see from this image from the 2009 Walker Cup, he’s aged just slightly differently than follow ’09 Walker Cupper Tommy Fleetwood.

Righty-lefty

Like Phil Mickelson, Harman is right-handed in everything besides golf. With an internal OB on the right side on three holes at Royal Liverpool, that choice seems to have been a worthy decision this week.

He’s an avid outdoorsman

Harman has a number of hobbies that take place in the great outdoors, but none are as notable as his prowess as a hunter and fisherman. He learned to skin a deer at the age of 8 and now owns a hunting facility. 

According to his PGATour.com bio, Harman is also a “world-class scuba diver.” Perhaps that could be an advantage in Hoylake’s miserable weather Sunday.

Two aces

At the 2015 Barclays, Harman became just the third PGA Tour player to make two holes-in-one in the same round. He holed a 7-iron from 184 yards on the 3rd hole, then did it again on the 14th hole with a 4-hybrid from 220.

Major-championship relations

Harman has been in this role before, leading the 2017 U.S. Open through 54-holes before Brooks Koepka won his first major at Erin Hills. But there’s loads of major championship experience up and down his bag. His caddie is Scott Tway, the younger brother of 1986 PGA Champion Bob Tway.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.