Brian Harman’s fondness for hunting has garnered him the nicknames ‘Brian the Butcher’, the ‘Butcher of Hoylake’, and the ‘Big Game Hunter’ by a number of outlets this week.
Much like the patience and determination one needs as a hunter, Harman was able to stick to playing his game and held a six-shot lead over the likes of Jon Rahm and Jason Day when he holed out to win his first major at Royal Liverpool on Sunday.
After coming up just short at the 2017 US Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, the 36-year-old Harman – the shortest player on the PGA Tour at 5-foot-7 – did not let his chance at writing his name on golf history slip away again.
The Savannah, Georgia native – a lefty golfer who does everything else right handed – is serious about his craft but has not seen success often, as his last win came at the 2017 Wells Fargo.
All that uncertainty will now fade away – as Harman’s success at Hoylake will see him join golf’s rank of immortals as he lifted the Claret Jug high into a stormy Merseyside sky.
Brian Harman has another trophy to add to his case by taking the Claret Jug at Hoylake
Harman, an accomplished bow hunter, was able to survive being hunted by the Open’s pack
The Georgia Bulldog, who’s been married to his wife Kelly since 2014, now has a major title
Harman doesn’t earn those ‘butcher’ and ‘hunter’ nicknames lightly. One stroll through his Instagram page and you’re met with multiple images of big game that the golfer has killed.
An accomplished bow hunter, Harman has taken down birds like turkeys – but also some seriously impressive elks.
‘When I go out turkey hunting I can spend all day out there,’ he said. ‘Hunting is something else that I do that makes me lose track of time.
‘We’ve been on some really cool elk hunts out in Colorado, really tough hunting, tons of elevation, and then after we harvest the animal.’
Harman has been hunting with his family in Georgia for years, saying that his father made it a point to teach him how to skin a deer by age eight.
But despite all the butchery, Harman says that none of the animals go to waste and that he tries to help the ecosystem as well.
‘Back home at the hunting place that I own, we plant food for the animals.’ Harman says. ‘We have prescribed fire for the animals. Everything we do is for the wildlife, and then when we harvest it, we respect it, take care of it, feed our families with it.’
Hunting isn’t the only adventure that runs in the Harman family. They’re also all world-class scuba divers and spear fishers.
Harman is accurate with a bow – and has shot turkeys and elk for meat in the past
In addition to his love for outdoor sports, Harman is also a big fan of the college football team of his alma mater – the University of Georgia.
His love for the national champion Bulldogs runs so deep that he told his now-wife Kelly Van Slyke to not plan their wedding for a fall weekend – so as not to conflict with the football schedule.
‘I told her people won’t come to our wedding. If you want all the people that we like to come don’t do it on a Georgia football weekend,’ Harman said.
They eventually tied the knot in December of 2014 and the couple had their first child, a daughter named Copper Marie, back in 2016. Later, they added two sons – Walter and Jack – to their family.
Harman met Van Slyke when she worked as a pilates instructor. She now works as a radiation therapist.
Much like her husband, Van Slyke is also into the outdoors – with many pictures on Harman’s Instagram account of her holding up fish she’s caught.
His wife, Kelly Van Slyke, is also an outdoorsy person – pictured fishing many times
The couple welcomed a girl, Copper (above) in 2016 before adding two more sons
Harman (second right) is also a massive fan of the University of Georgia’s football team
Despite living on a golf course, Harman didn’t pick up the sport that has seen him catapulted into immortality until the age of 12.
He said he enjoyed playing baseball as an organized sport before trying golf with a few neighborhood kids.
‘The moment I fell in love with golf is interesting,’ Harman told GolfDigest. I’ve actually had a conversation with [former U.S. Open winner] Steve Jones.
‘He won the 1997 Phoenix Open, and I was home from school and sick, and for whatever reason I just started watching that tournament on TV.
‘It was the year that Tiger made a hole-in-one and everyone was freaking out. I watched the whole thing and said, “Man, I’d love to give that a try.” I started playing golf the next week, and I’ve actually told Steve Jones that story.’
For someone who picked up the game so late, Harman had an accomplished youth career – winning the 2003 US Junior Amateur and making his PGA Tour debut the next year at the then-named MCI Heritage at Harbour Town in South Carolina. He shot an 81-76 to miss the cut.
But he did not give up his pursuit of the sport there – winning the Players Amateur in 2005, the Porter Cup in 2007, and being named to the Walker Cup teams of 2005 and 2009 as well as the Palmer Cup team of 2007.
After picking up the sport at age 12, Harman would have an accomplished amateur career
Harman (L) was named to multiple top amateur golf teams – including the Walker Cup
By 2010, he had turned pro taking part in a number of events on the EGolf Pro Tour and the Nationwide Tour.
Within two years, he had earned his full tour card and qualified for his first major – the 2012 US Open.
It was in 2012 that Harman gained some notoriety for being part of a peculiar situation at the Players Championship.
He was called up as an alternate after D.A. Points withdrew a matter of minutes before his tee time.
With his playing partners Carl Pettersson and Robert Garrigus already teed off, Harman was given permission to play his first round alone.
He earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 2014 John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run
That year, Harman also made his first cut at a major – doing so at the same course he won today
Harman seemed to hit something of a rough spot in 2013 – not qualifying for a single major before a big career year in 2014.
Not only did he manage to make the cuts at both the Open at Hoylake and the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2014, he also won his first PGA Tour event at the John Deere Classic.
The following year had ups and downs. Harman became the third player in tour history to hit two aces in the same round – doing so at the 2015 edition of The Barclays.
But he also saw a 54-hole lead at the Travelers Championship slip away from his grasp – just missing out on a playoff and watching as Bubba Watson won for the second time in Connecticut.
Harman wouldn’t taste victory again until 2017 – winning the Wells Fargo Championship by sinking a 28-foot putt on the 18th hole to win by a stroke over now-LIV defectors Dustin Johnson and Pat Perez. That was the most recent win he’s had on tour.
2017 brought joy for Harman, as he clinched his second tour win at the Wells Fargo
But that year also brought pain, as a 54-hole lead at the US Open at Erin Hills slipped away
While that victory boosted his career, that season, he would once again watch a 54-hole lead slip away – this time, at the US Open.
After leading over three rounds, Harman went into Sunday at Erin Hills in Hartford, Wisconsin one shot ahead of Brooks Koepka.
Harman started off with an early birdie, but carded only two more birdies and three bogeys to finish the round at even par.
Meanwhile, Koepka managed only one bogey alongside six birdies – including three in a row on 14, 15, and 16 – to claim his first major championship.
That left Harman in wait for his first chance at glory – and he unfortunately never got much closer than that second place finish at Erin Hills.
That was his best finish at a major and he only carded one other top-ten at last year’s Open at St. Andrews.
After all those close calls, Harman claimed his first ever major championship victory
Now, 2023’s Champion Golfer of the Year will be cast into the sport’s group of immortals
Or at least, that was the case – until Sunday’s rain drenched afternoon on the Wirral Peninsula.
Harman held the 36-hole and 54-hole leads going into the final round at Hoylake and this time, he did not stumble.
As an ever-shifting field behind him anticipated a fall, Harman kept his mistakes to a minimum and ended up finishing the round at one-under.
With his wife and children watching on miles away in Van Slyke’s hometown of Syracuse, New York, Harman acknowledged them and said he couldn’t wait to get home to them.
‘But first, I’ve gotta have a couple of pints out of this trophy, I believe,’ Harman laughed.
