Matthew Coritz

1. Brian Harman – That’s it. What a performance from the Bulldog. He played all week with that chip on his shoulder. Facing some early doubts after a slow start on Saturday, one fan poked the bear. “Brian you don’t have the stones for this!” He shouted. That’s all Harman needed to kickstart into gear and never look back as he coasted to the 6-shot victory. He’s 5’7 and swings around 109 mph, but this wasn’t all a putting masterclass. A recipe of 2 bunkers hit all week, striping the ball off the tee, and putting 61/62 inside of 10 feet all week? Yeah, that’ll work. On Monday I came across an interesting thought on golf digest. If Harman hits the driver 290 and the other guys hit three wood 280 it may seem like a disadvantage. But if their driver is negated by the pot bunkers looming just over 300 yards, Harman can be just as accurate and get the extra yardage from the driver vs other players’ 3 woods. That is an underrated advantage. It seems kind of backwards but boy did he play it. He was deadly accurate all week and got the job done to seal the first major of his career.

2. Shocker at the Venue of Great Champions – It was a generational performance, but the man behind it was a surprise. Coming into the week, Royal Liverpool was advertised as a “Breeding ground of Great Champions.” We may have been looking at that phrase wrong. In the past, it meant great champs as the players themselves like Tiger, Rory, and Walter Hagan all having titles at Hoylake. But this week it meant great champion in what Brian Harman was able to accomplish over the four days. It truly was one of the most dominant winning performances in recent memory at majors. This week, Royal Liverpool lived up to the moniker of great champions with Harman’s display but just not in the sense we expected.

3. Road Game – There was a lot of talk about the fans being a little hostile towards Harman and creating a “road game” environment. I don’t think it had anything to do with disliking Brian Harman, even if he’s not the most magnetic personality. It was more just people rooting for their guys, and for the majority English crowd, that meant Fleetwood and Mcilroy. He’s an American trying to win a tournament in England. I’m not advocating for picking on certain players but what’s wrong with rooting for your guys? Sometimes that may include the other guy not doing well. Here’s an example. I’m a Yankees fan. If I go to a Yankees-Red Sox game and say Rafael Devers makes an error and the Yankees score a run on the play. I’m not allowed to clap for that? Or even worse if Devers hits a home run, you want me to cheer?? I can appreciate how great the play was, but that’s not gonna happen. Now back to the Open Championship. Not every fan is there just to appreciate the golf being played. Some fans have a rooting interest so why are they not allowed to cheer as such? As long as it’s not personal attacks that cross the line or done with poor etiquette why not let somebody hear it? Let ‘em have fun.

4. Waggles Galore – NBC Coverage did not shy away from showcasing Brian Harman’s preshot routine, even going so far as including a live counter on the number of waggles as he addressed the ball. He would take as many as 20 waggles over the ball until he felt ready and would then proceed to hit his shot. I get it, the major championships come with massive pressure and you’ll do anything to steady yourself. But this was a little out of control. In golf, you can take as long as you want to steady your nerves. I don’t know the solution right now but we have to speed things up, golf is getting slower as every other sport is going in the other direction. You can’t pause a basketball game to shoot your 3 pointer when the time is right. You can’t even take more than ten seconds for a free throw, but you can waggle 14 times before you address a shot? I’ll sit and watch golf all day long but I want to watch golf shots not the golf preshot, and with Harman that’s hard to do. 

5. Links Golf is Art – Links golf is sensational. It was spoiled a bit by the rainy, soft conditions and we never really got the wind at full bore, but it is so fun to see the artistic golf that links style brings out. Cam Young’s stinger early Sunday on the 3rd hole that pierced through the air was a thing of beauty, and Sepp Straka’s inch-perfect chip using the mounds and slopes of the 18th hole on Friday was even better. It can be difficult to appreciate on TV just because of picture quality due to the weather, as well as the relatively flat landscape but links golf is something to behold. Golf is art in motion, and links style provides the perfect canvas for players to paint their best pictures. 

6. Leaderboard shoutouts – Sepp Straka continues to golf his ball and got the T2 at a major seemingly locking up his Ryder Cup spot. A heroic effort from Tom Kim on one leg. Or was it? There were differing reports on the extent of the injury but either way, a massive finish for the development of the young Korean. Max Homa got the monkey off his back! He secures the first Major Championship Top 10 of his career. Local boy Matthew Jordan finishes at -3 in a dream week for the Royal Liverpool Member in the feel-good story of the week. 

7. Another year of Rory – Another year has gone by and the major drought continues. Is it mental? Is it his gameplan? Is it just his play isn’t good enough anymore? What if it never does happen? I wish there was a little more of the bravado there once was. Where is the guy we saw just a week ago smiling, seemingly toying with the opposition as he wielded his golf ball on a string at the Scottish Open? There’s always next year.

8. Only 4 Shots at it – That being said the impact of the majors is interesting. Golf is so unpredictable yet so much emphasis is placed on these 4 weeks of the year. It’s what makes the guys with a lot of wins in these events so impressive because they took their shot and got it done. At the same time though, guys can be week in and week out the best players but maybe when the major rolled around it just wasn’t their week. I think that dilemma is what makes these weeks so good. Anything can happen. 

9. Ryder Cup Implications – This was a big week for Ryder Cup Teams. With the top 6 for both side being the players occupying the automatic qualifying spots the other 6 are my choices for the captain’s picks. 

TEAM USA

1. Scottie Scheffler
2. Wyndham Clark
3. Brian Harman
4. Brooks Koepka
5. Xander Schauffele
6. Patrick Cantlay
7. Max Homa
8. Cameron Young
9. Jordan Spieth
10. Collin Morikawa
11. Rickie Fowler
12. Justin Thomas

Bubble: (Keegan, Finau, and Sam Burns)

Gotta give credit to Keegan for multiple wins this season, and Finau and Burns are great players but JT is the guy for me that gets that 12th spot.

TEAM EUROPE

1. Rory Mcilroy
2. Jon Rahm
3. Robert Macintyre
4. Viktor Hovland
5. Tyrell Hatton
6. Tommy Fleetwood
7. Matt Fitzpatrick
8. Sepp Straka (trending up)
9. Shane Lowry
10. Justin Rose
11. Adrian Meronk
12. ABERG!

Bubble: (Yannik Paul, Perez, Hojgaard)

I think Meronk and Aberg are the right ones for the 11 and 12 spots. The Euros got absolutely blitzed the last go around in this event in Michigan so maybe an injection of youth potential and spirit is what’s needed for a turnaround. Meronk also just won the last Italian Open held at the same venue so he’s a good fit. 

10. The Justin Thomas Ryder Cup Question – I vote yes. He’s the heart and soul of the team man and he’s gotta be going to Rome. I understand he’s looked downright lost on the golf course a few times over the past couple of months, but he’s a two-time major winner with double-digit wins on the PGA TOUR. No disrespect but if Brian Harman can show up like this and win the open championship, then a player of JT’s caliber can put together a few matches at the Ryder Cup. That’s how golf goes it comes in waves but trust your guys, hot hands don’t necessarily correlate to a good performance because it’s a different format and a totally different atmosphere. Justin Thomas has been the guy for years now in this event and I think the only people that would be celebrating if he was left off would be whoever got the spot in his place and the Europeans because JT is not a guy they like to see.

11. MegaCorp!– Quick shoutout to Megacorp. MegaCorp is the sponsor front and center on Brian Harman’s hat. They’re just a freighting logistics company from North Carolina. But what a name! It sounds like they have Lex Luthor as CEO, and they’re plotting to take out Superman. It actually has been pretty big for their business, with Harman’s win seeing their searched amount on Google go up 5000%. 

12. Scottie woes – What an interesting year for the number-one player in the world. It seemed like he played too good to not win a major, but that’s the rub of the green. The putting issue is real but there are so many factors. He hits so many greens and usually plays later in the day which both statistically point to less made putts but he just seems to be so close yet so far. He insists he’s hitting good putts, and starting the ball on his line but something has to be off with reads or speed. If he can get back to his 2022 ways with the flatstick look out.

13. See ya next year – And that’s a wrap. It’s only July but the men’s major season is over. It’s such a long wait until next year’s majors and I believe they should take a page out of tennis’ book and put the PGA championship back in August. Tennis has longer breaks between majors and the season seems to flow much better. It provides breaks between each major and adds to the buildup. Having majors in April, May, June, and July just feels way too compressed. Respectfully, the FedEx Cup playoffs mean less than ever with a fractured men’s game. But alas, the countdown to April and sweet Georgia begins.