Brian Harman recalls the many phone calls he received from Team USA captains telling him he didn’t make the team. Jim Furyk called him in 2018, just before the Ryder Cup was held in Paris. Harman was devastated but he understood.
He said, “I would not have chosen me either.”
Steve Stricker called Harman in 2021, ahead of the Ryder Cup Whistlingstraits. While Harman believed he was more likely to be selected for that team, Harman understood that he wasn’t doing enough to stand out. Harman was disappointed again last year when he didn’t make the U.S. Presidents Cup Team led by Davis Love III.
He said, “I have never been left out and I felt that I deserved to be there.”
This year, he removed all doubts when he won in a resounding manner the British Open. It was his first win on the PGA Tour after 2017, and he earned an automatic selection for Zach Johnson’s Ryder Cup Team. Harman, 36, is both the oldest and youngest player on Team USA. Johnson has always recognized in Harman his neighbor from St. Simons Island.
Johnson described him as a “bulldog” and “feisty”. Johnson said that Harman is “just tough, relentless, grit and wants to put his back against a wall.” “I don’t know what he will do in the Ryder Cup but I would be willing to wager that Brian Harman’s best performance is likely to come out during the week.”
Harman enjoyed a successful junior and amateur golf career. He proved his mettle by beating Rickie fowler at the 2009 NCAA Championship.
Harman stated during his pre-Ryder Cup Wednesday press conference, “We’ve never spoken about that match.” “We were college students. He was trying hard to beat me; I was trying my best to beat him. That day, I beat him. He has had a great career. I’ve done OK.”
In the words of an AT&T advertisement, “just OK” is not OK. Harman won only two times out of more than 300 Tour appearances before winning the Claret Jug. He was dubbed the Champion Golfer of The Year. He began to feel the weight of his failure to live upto his hype.
Harman said to The Athletic, “If I am being honest, I felt embarrassed.” “I was ashamed of my career.”
The British win changes how fans, the media, his peers, and even himself view his career. The British tabloids dubbed him “Brian the Butcher”, partly because of his love for hunting and how he mocked the field. He laughed so hard at the name that his wife even threw a Brian the Butcher-themed party for him.
“We had golf balls, t-shirts and one of those rotating cameras that you could use to hold up a Brian the Butcher image and take photos. He said it was fun.
The Ryder Cup has overshadowed hunting. He has waited for this opportunity for a very long time. He knows he will likely be heckled as he did at the British Open when the locals were cheering too loudly and publicly for England’s Tommy Fleetwood. Harman has proven he is able to handle big moments, and he said that the naysayers have only fuelled his desire to win. Even Harman knows that the Ryder Cup is a whole new world for him.
He said, “It would be like trying to give advice to someone who is about to have their very first child.” There’s nothing that you can say to prepare them for this. You’ll be able to get through this. Your life will change. It’s going to hurt. It’s your choice how you deal with it.
Brooks Koepka admires Harman’s chipped shoulder.
I love it! Never gives up. Koepka: “I’m always ready to fight to the end, and to prove others wrong.”
His career has already shown that it is not something to be ashamed of.
