To waggle or not to waggle. If you’re Brian Harman, the 2023 Open Champion, that’s not really a question. While television coverage went as far as to put a “waggle counter” as the American prepared to swing at Royal Liverpool in the small town of Hoylake, England, Harman didn’t diverge from his plan, running away with the Open Championship during a wet and windy final day.

Harman finished at 13-under after a final round 1-under, holding off some of golf’s biggest names, including Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy. No one really made a charge at Harman in the final round, leaving the American to carefully pick his way around Royal Liverpool. “I’ve thought about winning majors for my whole entire life,” Harmon said. “It’s the whole reason I work as hard as I do and why I practice as much as I do and why I sacrifice as much as I do.”

Truthfully, golf has probably overlooked Harman for a long time. He’s been consistent for years, but doesn’t have one of those games that impresses with its virtuosity. He stands only 5-foot-7 and doesn’t hit it very far. But there are no holes in his game, either, which was demonstrated at the Open Championship this week, where he was in command from the start.

Heading into the final round, Harman said, “It has to be execution and just staying in the moment.” He did exactly that, and because of it is now a major champion.

How He Got It Done

Simply put, Harman didn’t make very many mistakes, similar to the way McIlroy and Tiger Woods played the course when it hosted the last two Open Championships. In the final round, Harman made four birdies against three bogeys to finish at 70, forcing the field to try to chase him down. On a miserable day with the rain pouring, Harman did exactly what he needed to do.

“Unrepeatable”

Despite his fine play, Harman didn’t seem to connect with the British fans or the press. One headline called him the “Butcher of Hoylake” because of his interest in hunting, also tagging him “Brian the Butcher.” He also heard several barbs aimed at him on the golf course over his four rounds, including some that were “unrepeatable.” That said, Harman took it in stride, saying he liked “the Butcher” tag better than the other name he heard: The Harmanator. Some of the animosity was aimed at Harman while he played with Tommy Fleetwood, and his caddie, Ian Finnis, both of whom grew up local to Liverpool.

Mcilroy Continues To Come Up Short

Nine years and counting. Rory McIlroy’s last major championships came when the year the Open Championship last appeared at Royal Liverpool. And despite a strong week, his streak of coming up just short continues. McIlroy made an early run on Sunday, but finished in a tie for sixth at 6-under par. Give the two-time RBC Canadian Open champ credit for not being discouraged by his major winless streak. “Every time I tee it up or most times I tee it up, I’m right there,” he said after his final round. “I can’t sit here and be too frustrated. You think about my performances in the majors between like 2016 and 2019, it’s a lot better than that. Again, I’m optimistic about the future, and just got to keep plugging away.”

Unfortunately, the almost a decade, that hasn’t been good enough.

Canadians stumble

Listowel, Ont.’s Corey Conners has performed well at the Open Championship in the past, but that wasn’t the case this week. Conners finished in a tie for 52^nd after a final round of 5-over 76. Though that wasn’t great, it was better than RBC Canadian Open winner Nick Taylor who didn’t make it to the weekend.