American Brian Harman won the British Open by six shots on Sunday, claiming his first major title at a rainswept Hoylake.
Masters champion Jon Rahm tied for second alongside Austria’s Sepp Straka, Australian Jason Day and South Korean Tom Kim on seven under par.
South Africa’s Christo Lamprecht, the lone amateur to make the cut, engraved his name in history after walking away with the silver medal.
“I’m definitely finishing off the week with a smile,” Lamprecht, who was the surprise co-leader at the end of the opening day, said on Sunday.
Lamprecht struggled on the last two days to finish tied for 74. However, he promised more to come after his memorable weekend.
A summer to remember for Christo Lamprecht 🇿🇦🥈
Amateur Champion 👉 Silver Medallist at @TheOpen pic.twitter.com/qWXTOE09QZ
— The R&A (@RandA) July 23, 2023
“This is going to take a while to sink in. Standing there on the 18th is going to be pretty cool. Once again, I’m just really grateful and fortunate to be in this position. I kind of had a look at it last night. It’s really nice to be part of history like that, and kind of engrave my name in history and hopefully there’s many more to come.”
Harman held a five-shot lead overnight and recovered from a shaky start to cruise to victory on 13 under par with a one-under final round of 70.
Not since Frenchman Jean van de Velde’s infamous collapse at the last hole of the 1999 British Open has any player squandered a five-shot advantage going into the final round of a major.
But the temperament of the world number 26 was tested early on the soaking Royal Liverpool course.
Harman bogeyed the second after a wayward approach failed to find the green and was then punished for a wild tee-shot at the par-five fifth with another dropped shot.
His lead was briefly cut to three shots, but back-to-back birdies at the sixth and seventh settled his nerves and stretched his lead as the chasing pack failed to make a move.
Harman’s sublime putting was the key to his success all week and he nailed a huge 40-foot birdie putt at 14 before another birdie with a four at the par-five 15th set the seal on a remarkably composed performance. – Additional reporting by Lunga Biyela
AFP
