You’ve probably heard the Brian Harman backstory by now. How he cruised to a six-shot victory at the Open Championship two weeks ago and did so despite a handful of vocal spectators hoping someone else — like local boy Tommy Fleetwood — would lift the Claret Jug instead.
But, as you know, Harman didn’t budge en route to his lopsided win. The sport’s newest major champion was this week’s guest on GOLF’s Subpar Podcast, and much of the conversation focused on his week in Hoylake. He also talked about dealing with the fans — and the one Harman kicked out.
Harman said he’s long loved links golf and has always enjoyed playing in front of crowds overseas, especially since they are so knowledgeable about the game, but he said he felt a shift after he took a five-stroke lead into the weekend. Alone in second at the time was Fleetwood.
“It turned on Saturday — it turned hard,” Harman said. “It caught me off guard a little bit, but it didn’t affect my play, which I was really proud of. It felt like a real hostile away game in college football.”
This putting aid helped Brian Harman win the Open Championship
There’s a difference, though, as Harman explained.
“On the [football] field, you are a long way from it,” he said. “When you walk three feet from someone [on the golf course] and they say something nasty, it’s intimate. It’s hard not to stop and turn around and get back after them.”
It’s not unusual for players to ask for certain over-served or disrespectful fans to be removed from the course, and Harman said he did have to do that once on Sunday.
“The guy followed me from like No. 6 to No. 10 Sunday, and literally like, every time over the ball he was like, ‘You are going to choke!'” Harman said. “Like, right as I was about to pull it back. And I’m standing over a three-footer for par on 10, and he starts getting after me again. It was my turn to play a shot, you can’t be quiet, you are out of here.”
Harman said he pointed to the fan while talking to the 11th tee, and security removed him.
“For me, you can say anything. You can’t hurt my feelings,” he said. “I’ve heard it all. But you have to respect my turn. This is my opportunity to hit a golf shot, I’m going to have my turn.”
Harman clarified that it wasn’t as if every person out there was cheering against him — and he heard several who were in his corner — but, as we learned that week, it was never smart to get Harman mad.
As he said Sunday night in the winner’s press conference: “If they wanted me to not play well they should have been really nice to me.”
You can listen to the complete Subpar interview with Harman below.