Brian Harman is more of a countryman than the poppies. And he’s proud of it. If he’s not training or playing, he’s around his farm or surroundings hunting or gathering. Brian the Butcher they nicknamed him at Royal Liverpool in 2023 when he won his first Major, none other than the Open. Now he has returned to competition after a long break and in Hawaii they asked him about his main hobbies when he puts away his golf clubs in the storage room.
Harman, who the first thing he did after winning the British was to enjoy the new tractor he had bought, commented in The Sentry what he dedicated his holidays to: “A lot of farming,” he admitted. In fact, he spent most of the time “on the farm to relax after a very crazy year; I needed some time for myself and I was also hunting beavers”.
But in addition to his agricultural and hunting tasks with the Claret Jug at home, the small left-handed player paraded the Open trophy around a place with a lot of pomp and ceremony. “I took a trip to Augusta National with the Jug. It was really cool. Then I went out to the field also during the Georgia-Ole Miss match. So that was probably the highlight of the party so far. It’s been a lot of fun having the trophy for a year,” he said.
Journalists quickly became interested in the story at Augusta National. The Claret Jug on the majestic Masters course has its point, of course. “Kevin Kisner and I had already planned it, it was the weekend of the Georgia-Florida. So a couple of Georgia guys and some dear friends went there, watched the match, played golf and enjoyed a good meal,” he recalled.
Of course, Harman displayed and boasted about his most prized trophy, the best loot beyond the pieces he has hunted: “It was great, it’s like an antique, a golf relic. And having the Claret Jug at Augusta National, which is like the next incredible golf milestone, was wonderful,” he acknowledged.
Genius and figure, agriculture and finesse, hunting and elegance… Harman has started the year well in Kapalua, with six under par he is in twelfth position three strokes behind the leader, Sahith Theegala. Just as he wins, he uses the Claret Jug with his friends in the middle of Hawaii, as he did with his colleagues in an Australian bar the previous Open winner, Cameron Smith. The Jug gives a lot of play wherever it goes, with the beavers or among the azaleas of Augusta National…
