Brian Harman wins British Open for 1st major and 1st victory since 2017

Brian Harman turned back every challenge in the British Open, from big names to bad weather, and took his place among major champions Sunday with a victory that was never seriously in doubt at Royal Liverpool.

Harman twice responded to a rare bogey with back-to-back birdies, leaving everyone else playing for second. He closed with a 1-under 70, making an eight-foot par putt on the last hole for a six-shot victory.

At age 36, he is the oldest first-time major winner since Sergio Garcia was 37 when he won the Masters in 2017. He is also the first American-born golfer to win tourney by at least 6 strokes since Tiger Woods in 2000

That wasn't a surprise. Not many would have seen this coming at the start of the week. Harman had gone 167 tournaments over six years since his last victory in the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship. This is only his third title in his 12 years on the PGA Tour.

Mastery of the elements.<br><br>Brian Harman claims a supreme six stroke victory at Hoylake.<br><br>A magnificent performance. <a href="https://t.co/Ic3HRsF5my">pic.twitter.com/Ic3HRsF5my</a>

And then the avid outdoorsman made winning golf's oldest championship look as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

Masters champion Jon Rahm birdied his last hole for a 70 to make it a four-way tie for second with Tom Kim (67), Sepp Straka (69) and Jason Day (69).

That turned out to be the B-flight.

Harman took the lead on Friday morning with the second of four straight birdies early in the second round. He never trailed over the final 51 holes, leading by five shots after the second round and five shots after the third round.

There was one anxious moment early on Sunday in a steady rain. Harman hit his drive into a gorse bush left of the fairway on the par-5