Brian Harman’s lengthy pre-shot routine creates controversy

Harman, a former Georgia Bulldog, has conquered the course through the first 54 holes. With only Sunday to go, he’s 12-under and holds a five-shot lead over Cameron Young and six over Masters champion Jon Rahm. It would be a huge collapse if he doesn’t bring home the Claret Jug.

Fans definitely weren’t cheering him on, Saturday. The tabloids have labeled him the Butcher of Hoylake. He also played Saturday’s round paired with Tommy Fleetwood. Fans at Royal Liverpool adore Fleetwood, who grew up 20 miles from Hoylake. Fleetwood’s caddie, Ian Finnis, also is from the area. The fans definitely were boisterous.

“You know, I’d be lying if I didn’t hear some things that weren’t super nice today towards me,” Brian Harman told reporters after his round. “I hear them, but at the same time, I don’t try to let that influence the decision I’m about to make.”

A reporter asked him what he heard. Harman smiled and said he couldn’t repeat it in polite company.

The same fan who posted Brian Harman’s tee shot circled back to pay the golfer a compliment: "In fairness, seems to be working for him!” he tweeted.

Harman is on the verge of winning his first-ever major. Plus, he hasn’t been victorious on the PGA Tour since May 2017, when he cashed the first place check at the Wells Fargo Championship. That same year, he also nearly won the U.S. Open. He entered the final round with a one-stroke lead, but by day’s end was in second place, five strokes behind winner Brooks Koepka.

He’ll allow himself to think about what it may feel like to hoist the famous jug.

“You’d be foolish not to envision,” Brian Harman said. “And I’ve thought about winning majors for my whole entire life. 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.

“Tomorrow, if that’s going to come to fruition for me, it has to be all about the golf,” he said. “It has to be execution and just staying in the moment.”

So forgive him if he takes a painful amount of time to hit a tee shot.