Brian Harman butchers Hoylake to equal its 36-hole scoring record in Open

He’s ‘Brian the Butcher’. After missing the cut in The Masters in April, Brian Harman killed a pig and turkey at his Georgia home in a bid to get the frustration out of his system.

Brian Harman reflects on his brilliant day's work on the 18th green in the second round of the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

Thankfully, the sheep and cows in Cheshire and North Wales can sleep easy over the weekend after the 36-year-old produced a record-equalling performance in the opening two rounds of the 151st Open.

Adding a 65 to his opening 67 at Royal Liverpool, Harman’s 36-hole aggregate matched the lowest at the Hoylake venue, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy having both reached the halfway stage on the same mark as they went on to triumph in 2006 and 2014 respectively.

Harman leads by five shots - the biggest margin since Louis Oosthuizen held the same cushion before going on to win at St Andrews in 2010 - from Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, with Austrian Sepp Straka a further shot back in third.

Helped by a burst of four straight birdies from the second and an eagle to finish after hitting a 5-iron from 241 yards to 15 feet, the two-time PGA Tour winner butchered the course then openly talked about how he likes butchering animals.

“Sheep don't taste as good as the turkeys do, I would imagine,” he replied to jokingly being asked if the animals around this part of the world should feel safe due to him being out in front in the season’s final major.

“I've been a hunter my entire life. I enjoy the strategy of it,” he added. “Yeah, we eat a lot of wild meat at my house, so I enjoy butchering and I do a lot of hunting.”

Playing in last year’s Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club, Harman shot 80-73 to comfortably miss the cut. “I think I beat two people,” he declared. “Played horrible. Then played bad the first day at St Andrews (in the 150th Open) and was like ‘golly, I love coming over here but I’m getting my teeth kicked in’.”

A second-round 68 on the Old Course proved a huge turning point as he went on to tie for sixth behind Cameron Smith and, on his return to the Genesis Scottish Open last week, he was in contention heading into the final round before having to settle for a share of 12th spot behind Rory McIlroy following a closing 74 in windy conditions.

“Yeah, had a bad Sunday,” he said of that. “Was in contention all week and just couldn't make any putts on Sunday. Was happy to use the Scottish to really get used to the conditions, and boy, congratulations to Scotland; they have the worst weather on the planet. They win. They win.”

On his debut in this event, Harman tied for 26th at this venue in 2014 before missing the cut four times in a row. He was delighted to stop that rot with a top-20 finish at Royal St George’s in 2021 and has now taken up on the Wirral where he left off in Fife 12 months ago.

“I've had a hot putter the last couple days, so try to ride it through the weekend,” said Harman, who led the US Open in 2017 going into the final round before finishing second to Brooks Koepka at Erin Hills.

“I love the golf over here. I couldn't figure out why I wasn't playing well. But I was excited to come for the Scottish Open the last couple years to try and get adjusted and get ready, so I think that's helped.”

To the delight of the local fans, Southport man and Everton fan Fleetwood cemented his position on the leaderboard with a 71. “It turned into a grind in the end,” he reported.

Staka, a recent winner on the PGA Tour and a strong contender to be one of Fleetwood’s team-mates in the Ryder Cup in Rome in September, bolted into contention with a burst of six birdies in the last seven holes.

Australian Min Woo Lee, the 2021 Genesis Scottish Open champion, sits one further back along with former world No 1 Jason Day and India’s Shubhankar Sharma, with 2018 winner Jordan Spieth and last year’s runner-up Cameron Young both on two-under.