Golf, Harman wins the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool

Bad day on the English West Coast for the final battle, but nothing strange in these parts where wind (with gusts up to 35 kilometers today) and pouring rain are part of the links along the coast. Like the eighteen holes of Royal Liverpool. So the Open Championship brings home its champion, Brian Harman is the Champion Golfer of the year number 151. He wins (actually wins hands down) with 65-67-69-70, 271 strokes, 13 under par. Hunted, a passionate hunter’s term for the American, throughout the first part of the day, then he sets off. There are many big names behind him and they are a lot further back, a historic comeback is needed.

The run-up

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Jon Rahm’s killer look on the one tee speaks for itself, but the drive is immediately out of position and too many missed opportunities. Harman retreats at the start (at 3 he’s given up for dead, but exhibits a masterful approach from the tall wet grass). He returns to -12 (where he started) at 7. In the middle of the round there are always five shots in his favor, too many to recover. The unequal fight is played out above all on the greens. He pits (even from afar several times), the number one in the world is not. And so the others. Starting with Cameron Young, puttingt is a nightmare for him today. Rory was 9 strokes behind, he reduces it to 5 in five holes also thanks to a 14-metre long putt at 3. Then the dark. Even Tommy Fleetwood doesn’t give up, as he promised his audience in a tweet in the morning, but the ball doesn’t enter. Those closest to the leader try but all get stuck in the return; someone from behind goes up positions, like Jason Day, Sepp Straka, Emiliano Grillo, Tom Kim. In the meantime, however, the left-handed player from New York makes almost no mistakes, he finds his rhythm even from tee to green and with his incandescent putter he goes to get applause and the title.

The left handed

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He’s not a big boy like many who plow the fairways today, he’s 1.70 and tall. In his winning formula there are therefore no great distances (257 meters on average with the driver), but around and on the green he offers a great golf lesson. On the putt he earned 11.57 hits on the field average in the week, he made 104 in total, exactly 26 every day (those today made from very far). “Really good this week, but it’s actually been my modus operandi my entire career. I always expect to hole out, especially on fantastic greens like these,” he said. For the record, he only took a couple of Royal Liverpool’s deadly bunkers in the week. And he slept ten hours every night. It’s a habit he counts on a lot for performance, he also reiterated it in closing. “I have an excellent pedigree according to the successes I’ve had as an amateur, then I patiently waited for this moment to arrive. Patience and strategy are the things that hunting has taught me since I was 8 years old and went with my father”. For him a check for 3 million dollars, the highest ever in the history of the tournament, out of a total prize pool of 16.5 million dollars (up 18% compared to 2022). The second dead ends in the end at -7 (277 hits). They are Jason Day (72-67-69-69), Tom Kim (74-68-68-67), Jon Rahm (74-70-63-70), Sepp Straka (71-67-70-69).

Bad day Migliozzi

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It certainly wasn’t the fun day that Guido Migliozzi had imagined yesterday. He takes the worst conditions in the morning and pays too many tee shots out of position. At the 8th hole (par 4) the wind is strong, against from the right: he goes out twice to the left and scores 8. He responds with character and a great play on the nine, par 3, where he recovers a shot. He will sign an 80 on the score, which does not do credit to the major tournament played for three rounds in the high rankings. He closes in 292 (+8), 69-72-71-80, in 64th position. He brings home his third British Open, the first where he passes the cut and where he remains under par (among the few) for three laps. The 27-year-old from Vicenza has moved to Dubai for three years, where he lives and trains in the winter months, from the conclusion of the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour) in November, up to the first races of the year which are played right in the Emirates. A mix of simplicity, calm and explosive grit when the stakes and motivation rise. It is no coincidence that he was the first player drafted by Modest! Golf, the management company of pop star Niall Horan. He returns home with his fiancée Marta and coach Niccolò Bisazza (who saw him grow up at the Golf della Montecchia) glued to the sidelines throughout the tournament.

The team

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Fundamental to the team is “the tiger”, the Spanish caddy Alberto Calvo Villanueva who has recently returned to his bag after an operation, making his absence a lot; not least the athletic trainer and physiotherapist Filippo Zucchetti. “And then my family,” says Guido. In his curriculum, two rookie titles on the major tour in 2019, then an exploit at the US Open 2021 (fourth) and victory in the 2022 French Open at Le Golf National in Paris, where the 62nd final is a record in the 104-year history of the tournament. And the last shot on the last hole was listed as the best of the entire 2022 DP World Tour season. Migliozzi is an almost unpronounceable surname for foreign media, but they will quickly have to learn how to do it right.