Harman, who landed five shots on the final day, played a 70’s round to wrap up the $16.5 million tournament. That was enough to drive away his opponents. The 36-year-old’s first major victory was sweetened by the legendary Claret Jug and $3 million in prize money. In addition, he can now call himself the “Champion Golfer of the Year”. “First, I’ll have two pints of this cup,” said Harmann, who won the Tour six years ago.
In typical English conditions – rain and 17 degrees – Straka started the final round with a loss of stroke, which he made up for with Birdies on days three and five. As a result, the Austrian golfer missed opportunities to win more shots, and the short match on the greens did not go as planned. The 30-year-old bogeyed another birdie on the ninth hole, but that was followed by a bogey on the 10th hole after a failed short putt.
Further, at the back of a challenging nine-link golf course (par 71), he managed birdies on the 11th and 16th with a bogey on the last hole. Not only did it cost Straka second place, but it also cost about $600,000 in prize money. At nearly $1.1 million, the reward money was still generous. “I’m very satisfied. I haven’t played very good links golf in the past, I didn’t have much experience there,” said Straka, who was affected by the wet weather. “It’s hard to be aggressive out there. Hats off to Brian for playing in these conditions.”
Overall, Straka’s performance at Hoylake was a convincing letter of recommendation for European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, who nominated his team for the traditional continental comparison with the USA in Rome (25 September – 1 October) at the start of September. “That’s a big goal. I’m really happy to get the chance,” said the Viennese, who met Donald this week. “He knows I want to be on the team and I hope I can show that with my golf and make the decision easy for him.”
The Austrian confirmed his dazzling brilliance at Royal Liverpool. Two weeks ago, the University of Georgia grad claimed his second PGA title by winning the John Deere Classic. Before the tournament, Straka changed the caddy, borrowing Duane Block from Kevin Kisner, who is currently on a break. As now seen in Conquest, this appears to be a promising pairing.
The athlete, who lives in the USA, had already shown in May at the PGA Championship that he has to be reckoned with in the major tournaments, having achieved the first top ten result by an ÖGV golfer in one of the four traditional major championships with a seventh-place finish. Now a first third place has been added at Hoylake. Previously, Marcus Breyer held the record at the 2007 British Open with a 12th-place finish.
Straka celebrated his first victory on the PGA Tour in February 2022 at the Honda Classic, thus setting new standards for Austrian golf. As a result, he was the first red-white-red golfer to appear in the Tour’s Top 30 Finals in Atlanta and at the Tiger Woods Invitational Tournament in the Bahamas, a prize in the sport of small white ball.
