Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Brian Harman’s performance when he won The Open Championship in 2023 came on the greens at Royal Liverpool.
Brian Harman ran away with victory at The Open Championship two years ago. The American was five shots clear at the halfway stage at Hoylake. And he continued to keep all of his closest challengers at arm’s length over the weekend.
Harman was particularly ruthless whenever he had a putt from inside 10 feet.
Remarkably, the 38-year-old made 58 of his 59 putts from that distance across the week.
Brian Harman explains the change he made to improve his putting inside 10 feet
Harman does not hit the ball particularly far by modern standards. But he is a fantastic competitor. He did not make a single double bogey all week at The Open in 2023.
However, he has not always been prolific when it comes to making shorter putts. According to the man himself, it was a weakness of his when he first started playing on the PGA Tour.
Interestingly, as he told the On The Mark podcast, he made a conscious effort to change his outlook when faced with a putt that he would expect to make more often than not.
“When I first got on tour, I wasn’t very good inside of 10 feet putting. I was a good putter, but I would miss the odd three footer, four footer, just the nervy one that you’re not quite settled on. Then you’re thinking about them a lot,” he said.
“I had a real conversation, I kind of treat these putts like life or death, like they’re so important. And then I thought well, what if it was life or death, how would I hit the putt? What if it was life or death? I would definitely make sure that I was settled. I would definitely make sure that I gave it enough break. I would definitely make sure that I stayed nice and still. I would definitely make sure that I went through my routine.
“I remember I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about the fastest growth in any sport was this no rope rock-climbing because it puts these people in this literal fight or flight, life or death situation. If they miss a hand hold, it’s over. It’s all over. And it puts them in this heightened sense of focus where they don’t worry about messing up. They’re just thinking about executing, executing, executing.
“And that thought, the basics of ‘alright man, if you’re going to think about this like life or death, then how would you hit it if it was?’”
How Rory McIlroy inspired Brian Harman to improve his wedge game
Harman was 163rd on the PGA Tour for driving distance in 2025, averaging just under 295 yards. That did not prevent him from winning the Valero Texas Open and registering three more top 10s across the season.
Much of that success stemmed from the quality of his wedge game. Harman was 13th on tour for the average distance from the hole from shots inside 100 yards.
And he explained how an early experience of playing alongside Rory McIlroy made him realise that he simply had to be flawless with a wedge in his hand if he was going to be a success on tour.
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“I can remember playing with Rory at Memorial one year, pretty early in my career, and obviously he’s an absolute freak of nature with his ball-striking. But I watched him flight this really pretty wedge and I was like he can’t be better than me at that. I have to be better than him at that,” he added.
“And so I rededicated myself to my wedge game, because I can’t get beat there. He’s going to hit it further, he’s going to hit it higher. He’s going to kill me on par fives, but I can’t have him flighting wedges better than I can. Something where talent isn’t as important, more reps and more intentional work and just being really focused on what you’re trying to accomplish.”
Harman is a very good example for young players hoping to make the PGA Tour one day. There is no question that he has made the most of the skills he has.
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