Leading by five shots going into the final round of the Open Championship, American Brian Harman had the right to be nervous. Despite the huge gap he had on the field, commentary began on whether the 36 year old, who had never won a major, could survive the atrocious weather at Royal Liverpool and hang on for his first major title. We were reminded that no player had relinquished that type of lead in a major since the 1999 British Open when Jean van de Velde collapsed on the final hole in the famous Barryburngate incident.

After slip ups on the second and fifth Harman’s lead was cut to just three shots and spectators and commentators alike started looking for a train wreck. However Harman held his nerve and delivered back-to-back birdies on six and seven to restore order – everyone else was playing for second.

Harman made a statement on the back nine, holing a 14 metre putt for birdie and then followed with another at fifteen. Nothing to see here!

Those chasing Harman included Australian Jason Day. After a drought breaking victory on Tour earlier this year, Day continues his slow climb back to the top of world golf, something of a pet project for the likeable Aussie and former World number one.

Jon Rahm shot up to a tie for second, courtesy of his stunning third round of 63. He closed with a 70 to join Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day on 277, six shots adrift of Harman total of 271.

Rory McIlroy and Emiliano Grillo were a further shot back on 278 to tie for sixth.

Read the FULL TOURNAMENT WRAP HERE

Day’s highlight came at the par three ninth, where he chipped for a sensational birdie. Naturally he led the Australian contingent which included defending champion Cameron Smith. His closing two over final round landed him in T33, alongside another Aussie Adam Scott. Scott’s highlight was a terrific holed bunker shot on the fourth for eagle.

Min Lee Woo who was there in contention as players entered the weekend faded with closing rounds of 72 and 75 to finish +2 in T41, while Lucas Herbert, Travis Smyth, Haydn Barron, David Micheluzzi, Connor McKinney and amateur Harrison Crowe failed to make the cut.

Harman walked away with A$4.3million for his week’s work, while Day collected A$1.6 for his shared second spot. Day now sits in 11^th spot in the FedEx Cup standings.

FULL LEADERBOARD

FINAL ROUND NOTES FROM PGA TOUR

Brian Harman (Winner/-13)

• Third career PGA TOUR win and first major championship title (340^th career start at the age of 36 years, 6 months, 4 days)
• PGA TOUR wins (3): 2014 John Deere Classic, 2017 Wells Fargo Championship, 2023 Open Championship
• 168^th start since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship
• 6 years, 2 months, 16 days (2,268 days) since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship
• 30^th career start in a major (previous-best result: T2, 2017 U.S. Open)
• Eighth career start at The Open Championship (previous-best result: T6, 2022)

Last five wins by six strokes or more on TOUR

Players to win majors by six strokes or more in the last 25 years 

Last five players to earn first major championship title

Last five wins by left-handed players on TOUR

Last five wins by left-handed players in majors

BRIAN HARMAN

• Moves from No. 26 to No. 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the highest position of his career
• Moves from No. 18 to No. 6 in the FedExCup standings
• Projected to move to No. 3 in the United States Ryder Cup standings; the top six in the standings through the BMW Championship will automatically qualify
• 2-for-4 with the 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR (1-for-2 in majors)
• 1-for-6 with the 36-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR (1-for-2 in majors)
• Players leading by five strokes or more through 36 holes in majors are now 9-for-9 converting to victory in the last 40 years
• Players leading by five strokes or more through 54 holes in majors are now 10-for-12 converting to victory in the last 40 years
• Entered the week with 29 top-10s on the PGA TOUR since the start of the 2017-18 season, which was the most of any player without a win in that span (now Tommy Fleetwood, 27)

Miscellaneous notes

• The top seven players on the leaderboard represent seven different countries (United States, South Korea, Austria, Australia, Spain, Argentina, Northern Ireland
• Tom Kim and Sepp Straka (T2) earn their first career top-five finishes in majors
• Rory McIlroy (T6) now has 20 top-10s in majors since his most recent major title (2014 PGA Championship), the most of any player in that span; McIlroy has seven top-10s in the last eight majors
• Max Homa finishes T10, his first career top-10 in a major championship (17^th major start)
• World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finishes T23, snapping a streak of 18 consecutive results of T12 or better