It appeared more like a ski resort than a golf event when Brian Harman arrived at the range on Sunday.
Stocking caps were worn by the players. Hoods were worn by caddies. At the Valero Texas Open, fans were dressed in layers, sporting knit gloves, grim faces, and hot cheeks. The temperature was little below fifty degrees. (The temperature feels like 42.) Like a snowblower, it was wailing.
A fan yelled, “Harman!” as the leader made his way to the first tee, hands in his pockets. “Texas loves you!”
It was one of those difficult days. It was also real as well.
Harman won his 4th career PGA TOUR triumph on a black-diamond afternoon at TPC San Antonio and his first since 2023 at The Open Championship, a tournament notorious for its brutal conditions. Harman accepted the whims of playing golf in windy conditions and other uncontrollable weather conditions, just as he did at Royal Liverpool at the time.
He characterised the last round as a “game of attrition” in which he survived and referred to score as “a relative thing.”
“A really low score would just not be possible under the circumstances.” Harman said.
Super low wasn’t necessary for him. Solid was what he needed. In order to earn 500 FedExCup points and some positive memories to carry to the Masters, he most importantly needed to remain composed in the midst of the mayhem. Prior to his victory, the 38-year-old Georgian, who was rated No. 49 in the world, posted a tough 3-over 75, which was the highest final-round score for a winner this season. It was just higher than Harris English’s 73 at the Farmers Insurance Open. At the Valero, the last grouping amongst Harman, Andrew Novak, and Tom Hoge was 11 over par.
Harman finished at 9-under 279 with rounds of 66-66-72-75, 3 strokes ahead of runner-up Ryan Gerard. That was how easy the first 2 days were. That’s how difficult the second 2 were. The hardest day was Sunday. At 74.8, the average score skyrocketed. Nine players were below par. Thorbjørn Olesen and Patrick Fishburn managed to shoot 4-under 68. They both ended up with a 5th-place result.
On Saturday, Harman stated that he was aware that the pursuers would pursue.
“They’re starving. They will arrive.”
As the final starting time drew near, they were bundled up on the practice tee. Harman started his round with a par on the 454-yard first, a par-4 hole that played more than half a stroke over par, even with the wind’s help, following a vigorous warm-up that featured five drives from the turf. The par-5 second was birdied by Harman. Even though the entire par-3 third played over water and downwind, he was making it seem easy. There, he made another par.
Then easy turned into hard. After missing one of eight greens in regulation on Sunday, Harman made bogey on the par-4 fourth hole, causing him to first experience trouble. His advantage of three shots shrank to two. Two became one when Novak birdied the fifth. On the sixth, both players made bogey. The temperature had reached a tropical 57 degrees by that point. The sun shone brightly.
Harman and Novak played back into the wind, hitting their second shots on the 8th par-5 left and into the native area. Novak’s shot was close to a beautiful specimen of the succulent Opuntia, which Texans refer to as the prickly pear cactus. Following a bounce on a cart path, Harman secured a decent lay in the rough. 36 feet from the hole, he made a safe two-putt for a valuable par on his 3rd putt on the green. Novak made bogey. The gap had shrunk to 2.
And then, more anguish. One of the most difficult holes at the Valero during the weekend was the ninth par-4, which Harman double-bogeyed. Hard got harder at that point.
It was not where he had anticipated finding it. Since it might have been so much worse, Harman actually stated that the double bogey on the 9th was one of the tournament’s most significant moments. All 249 yards of his drive were dragged into the fairway’s brush right. To get his ball out of the rocks, he took an unplayable position. His 4th attempt missed the hole by 32 feet. He managed to drive it in.
“It prevented me from experiencing a complete breakdown.” He said.
He went into the back nine with a one-shot lead. With a 15-foot birdie putt on the 12th par-4, one of three he would make on Sunday, he extended it to two once more.
The leader, Ryan Gerard, was 4-under through 14 holes. He was wearing a puffy hoodie and was quietly working his way up to a solo-second finish.
During his 34th career PGA TOUR start, Gerard stated, “I was just trying to be scrappy out there.”
Some players utilised the same club they used on the 169-yard 16th hole, and others choose mid-irons for the 250-yard par-3 13th. On the 335-yard par-4 17th hole, where Novak found that driver was too much, they whacked fairway metals off the tee. Playing headlong against the wind on the 444-yard 9th hole, the average drive was 261 yards. Riding the consistent 15-mph gusts, it was 329 on the 14th par-5 hole. Harman made his 345. He also made birdie there.
“Been having a great time playing golf. I’ve been feeling like it was right there, even though my scores haven’t indicated it. To have it pop this week and be in terrific form for some big stuff coming up is really awesome.” Harman said.
Harman acknowledged that competing now requires a different amount of energy than it did in the past.
“My age is 38. I am no longer twenty-five. I am aware that I am becoming somewhat older.” he said.
Harman’s 1,266th TOUR round was a challenging test with no simple solutions. It was reminiscent of when Arnold Palmer won the first of three straight Valeros at neighbouring Fort Sam Houston in 1960.
That year’s subfreezing temperatures permanently frozen the greens, albeit it wasn’t as awful as in 1958, when the thermometer read 22 degrees. The winter restrictions helped winner Lawson Little in 1941 because Willow Springs, a nearby municipal course where Ben Hogan finished second twice in Valero, was extremely chilly.
With 3 holes remaining, Harman held a 3-shot lead. It was 2 after a bogey on the par-3 16th hole. On the 17th, Novak was thinking of making a birdie when he bounded over the green with his tee ball. His initial chip missed the green. The second rolled well past the hole. Although he created Bogey, that was not Novak’s intention.
“I just failed to execute” Novak said.
Three pars later, Harman was discussing with radio and television reporters how he managed to finish on a challenging day in the Hill Country.
Harman placed second in Strokes Gained for the week. Approach the Green (6.15), fifth in SG: Tee to Green (7.6), and sixth in SG: Putting (5.3). He achieved these results using a brand-new TaylorMade Spider 5K-ZT center-shafted putter that has minimal torque, which he used on Tuesday. There was not a single 3-putt by Harman. 18 out of 28 was his scrambling score.
It was not comfortable.
In Texas, Harman enjoyed winning. It was demonstrated by his fist bump after finishing. And Texas loved him back, in its own rough and tumble fashion.
