Harman is 2023 Open champion; Sharma brings in best-ever Indian finish

Brian Harman cut out the drama and the frills to strike a mighty blow for the outsider with a comprehensive six-shot victory at the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Sunday, taming the course and conditions with near-faultless golf and some masterful putting.

The left-handed American started five shots ahead of the pack on Sunday and finished six shots clear in driving rain that fell through the day. Before that though, a bit of Indian golf history was created with Shubhankar Sharma completing a faultless round that sealed a tied eighth place.

It is the new best finish by an Indian at The Open, bettering the tied 27th posted by Jyoti Randhawa at Royal Troon in 2004. Anirban Lahiri’s shared fifth at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Strait though remains the best by an Indian at a men’s major.

Sharma, 27, not only produced the only bogey-free card of the final round with some fine hitting and clear planning, but his top-10 result also sealed a return to the Open at Royal Troon next year.

“It's amazing. Yeah, just played out of my skin,” the two-time DP World (European) Tour winner said later. “I grinded from the first hole. I don't remember the last time I've hit so many long irons into par-4s, 2-irons, 4-irons, 5-irons all day, and I struck them brilliantly, so really proud of myself the way I handled myself on the course.”

Sharma’s closing 1 under 70 gave him a four-day total of 5 under 279, level with 2022 runner-up Cameron Young of the US, who had started alongside Harman in the final group on Sunday morning.

The diminutive Harman dropped a shot on the second hole and almost went out of bounds on the next in a near-repeat of his start in Saturday but he displayed tremendous composure and course craft to bring his run at the title back on track in quick time. He would drop two more shots on either side of the turn but with four birdies, was comfortably ahead of the chasing pack all the way.

With a best drive of 354 yards on the day despite the wind and rain and blessed with controlled iron-play, Harman really came into his own on the greens, On Sunday, he needed just 27 strokes with the putter, far and away the best stats in a star-studded field. The winner’s four-day scores read 67, 65, 69 and 70 for a 13 under an aggregate 271.

“Got off to a bad start on both days and turned it around, Harman said later. “So really happy with that.

“I’m over the moon. It was a tough last three days, really was. Being able to get some sleep was big last night. Sleeping on a lead like that is really difficult, so glad of the way I hung in

there the last couple of days,” Harman added of his first title since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship.

At the post-trophy press conference, Harman showed he had quite an open mind, agreeing with a questioner that he did indeed resemble former Australian cricketer and captain Ricky Ponting, which many had remarked on. “I look like him. Handsome fella,” Harman allowed while disclosing that he was coming to grips with cricket and its mystifying rules.

About the win, he added, “You know, I've always had a self-belief that I could do something like this. It's just when it takes so much time it's hard not to let your mind falter, like maybe I'm not winning again.

“I'm 36 years old. The game is getting younger. All these young guys coming out, hit it a mile, and they're all ready to win. Like when is it going to be my turn again.

“It's been hard to deal with. I think someone mentioned that I've had more top-10s than anyone since 2017, so that's a lot of times where you get done, you're like, dammit, man, I had that one; it just didn't happen for whatever reason.

“To come out and put a performance like that together, like start to finish, I just had a lot of control. I don't know why this week, but I'm very thankful that it was this week.”

Immediately behind him, Korean star Joohyung ‘Tom’ Kim underlined his major pedigree with a career best finish at The Open, becoming the youngest player to finish runner-up since Seve Ballesteros in 1976.

A final round 4-under 67 for the day’s joint low score in treacherous conditions propelled the 21-year-old to back-to-back top-10s in the majors following his joint eighth at the US Open last month. The late Ballesteros was 19 when he finished tied second to Johnny Miller.

A two-time PGA Tour winner already, Kim shared second place with Spain’s Jon Rahm (70), Jason Day (69) of Australia and Austrian Sepp Straka (69), who too recorded his best finish at a major. Asia’s best finish at The Open remains a solo second by Chinese Taipei’s “Mr” Lu Liang-huan in 1971.

Kim was thrilled with his week, especially after injuring his right left ankle in a fall at his rented home. “Played great this week,” he said. “It's very, very satisfying. It (ankle) actually lasted better today. I took off my cast and it got a lot better.

“Obviously coming down the stretch of a major when you're playing well, the adrenaline kind of hits. It was nice to almost forget about it a little bit, because when you're in the moment, you don't really think about it. I think today was probably the best it's been out of the three days, so kind of relieved.”