‘You Don’t Have The Stones For This’ – Harman Motivated By Hecklers

Brian Harman admitted after winning The Open Championship that he was motivated by heckling fans to play well. 

Brian Harman, the newly crowned Champion Golfer of the Year, knew coming into this week that he was always going to have to play the role of underdog when he was competing against fan favorites like Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and others for the historic Claret Jug.

Turns out, that is a role that he was born to play. Harman hardly put a foot wrong all week as he romped around Hoylake on his way to an astonishing six-shot victory over the chasers in the final Major Championship of the year.

The first-time Major winner held a five-shot advantage after rounds 2 and 3 at Royal Liverpool this week, and as he stepped onto the first tee on Sunday with a comfy lead, chores of boos reportedly rained down from a number of the fans.

Harman, however, didn’t let this deter him. In fact, turns out, he used it as motivation this week anytime he was faced with any kind of adversity out on the course. Speaking in his championship press conference after the trophy presentation on Sunday, Brian recalled a specific incident that happened on Saturday that he used to fuel his fire this week.

Brian Harman used comments from fans as motivation at Open Championship.

"“After I made the second bogey yesterday, a guy, when I was passing him, he said, Harman, you don’t have the stones for this. That helped.” Harman said. “Anyway, it helped snap me back into I’m good enough to do this. I’m going to do this. I’m going to go through my process, and the next shot is going to be good.”"

Historically, Harman hadn’t played all that well in Open Championships prior to this week, with four missed cuts in his first seven appearances at the famous championship.

“Yeah, I missed those four cuts, I think I missed all of them by one. I played some okay golf, so it wasn’t like I was over here hacking it to pieces, I just couldn’t quite get comfortable, and I felt like maybe I rushed through it too much,” he added. 

The Open Champion decided to change his preparation process heading into this year’s championship at Royal Liverpool as he elected to play last week’s Genesis Scottish Open to help acclimate.

“Then last year I finally felt like man, if I would have played a little bit better the first couple days, I could have been right there. I was excited to come back here this year.” he said. “I think coming over for the Scottish helped a lot getting ready and putting all my eggs in the basket of playing well here.”

Brian’s change in preparation paid big dividends immediately, as he cruised to his first Major title at the age of 36. The 2023 Champion Golfer of the Year also earned an Open Championship record $3 million dollar prize for his efforts at Royal Liverpool.

The newly crowned Open Champion is set to play in the upcoming Ryder Cup in September for Team USA, something which he is looking forward to, but not focused on at the moment. For now, Harman will relish in his historic win at one of golf’s most historic venues.