Brian Harman – Page 8 – Syndication Server

U.S. Open: Brian Harman, four others now in Winged Foot field

The initial field of 144 players for next week’s U.S. Open was finalized with five players from the final 2019-20 FedExCup points list.

The initial field of 144 players for next week’s U.S. Open was finalized Tuesday with the addition of the five players from the final 2019-20 FedExCup points list not otherwise exempt. Sebastian Munoz, Brian Harman, Tyler Duncan, Mark Hubbard and Danny Lee were the last ones in.

All players have until 5 p.m. Friday to confirm whether they will play in the championship Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck.

With traditional qualifying deemed unsafe in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the USGA in June issued the list of exemptions that would be used to set up the field this year. There are two locals in the field, Danny Balin, a Valhalla resident who is the head professional at Fresh Meadow Country Club on Long Island, and Brandon Wu, a Korn Ferry Tour winner who resided in Scarsdale prior to the start of his pro career.

120th U.S. Open field

Byeong Hun An
Abraham Ancer
a-John Augenstein
Danny Balin
Paul Barjon
Daniel Berger
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Keegan Bradley
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Patrick Cantlay
Paul Casey
a-Ricky Castillo
Cameron Champ
Corey Conners
Joel Dahmen
Jason Day
Bryson DeChambeau
Thomas Detry
Tyler Duncan
Harris English
Tony Finau
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Tommy Fleetwood
Rickie Fowler
Ryan Fox
Sergio Garcia
Lucas Glover
Lanto Griffin
Chesson Hadley
Adam Hadwin
a-Cole Hammer
Justin Harding
Brian Harman
Tyrrell Hatton
Scott Hend
Lucas Herbert
Jim Herman
Lee Hodges
Rasmus Hojgaard
Max Homa
Billy Horschel
Sam Horsfield
Viktor Hovland
Charles Howell
Mark Hubbard
Mackenzie Hughes
Sungjae Im
Shugo Imahira
Ryo Ishikawa
Stephan Jaeger
Jazz Janewattananond
Marty Jertson
Dustin Johnson
Zach Johnson
Matt Jones
a-Takumi Kanaya
Sunghoon Kang
Martin Kaymer
Chan Kim
Si Woo Kim
Kevin Kisner
Kurt Kitayama
Brooks Koepka
Jason Kokrak
Matt Kuchar
Romain Langasque
Danny Lee
Marc Leishman
Tom Lewis
Adam Long
Mike Lorenzo-Vera
Shane Lowry
Curtis Luck
Robert MacIntyre
Hideki Matsuyama
Dan McCarthy
Graeme McDowell
Rory McIlroy
Troy Merritt
a-Lukas Michel
Phil Mickelson
Collin Morikawa
Sebastian Munoz
Kevin Na
Joaquin Niemann
Alex Noren
Shaun Norris
a-Andy Ogletree
Louis Oosthuizen
Adrian Otaegui
a-John Pak
Ryan Palmer
Renato Paratore
Taylor Pendrith
Eddie Pepperell
Victor Perez
Thomas Pieters
J.T. Poston
Ian Poulter
Andrew Putnam
Jon Rahm
Chez Reavie
Patrick Reed
Davis Riley
JC Ritchie
Justin Rose
a-Eduard Rousaud
Xander Schauffele
Scottie Scheffler
Matthias Schwab
Adam Scott
a-Sandy Scott
Greyson Sigg
Webb Simpson
Cameron Smith
Brandt Snedeker
Jordan Spieth
Henrik Stenson
Kevin Streelman
Steve Stricker
a-James Sugrue
Andy Sullivan
a-Preston Summerhays
Connor Syme
Justin Thomas
a-Davis Thompson
Michael Thompson
Brendon Todd
Sami Valimaki
Erik van Rooyen
Ryan Vermeer
Jimmy Walker
Matt Wallace
Bubba Watson
Richy Werenski
Lee Westwood
Bernd Wiesberger
Danny Willett
Matthew Wolff
Gary Woodland
Tiger Woods
Brandon Wu
a-Chun An Yu
Will Zalatoris

Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News/lohud, part of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com or on Twitter @hoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.

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Brian Harman comes home to play RBC Heritage

Savannah native Brian Harman grew up following the RBC Heritage closely. The PGA Tour stop at Harbour Town is a homecoming for him.

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Savannah native Brian Harman grew up following the RBC Heritage closely — attending the tournament with his family to see the best players in the world — as he developed into one of the top young golfers in the country.

The Savannah Christian alumnus gained national fame by winning the U.S. Junior Amateur in Maryland in 2003 and went on to a notable career at the University of Georgia before turning pro in 2009.

The 33-year-old, who plays left-handed, lives in Sea Island now, a hotbed for golf and home to some of the top players in the world. He’s back on a familiar course this week — playing in his 10th Heritage — but the coronavirus pandemic has changed the scene at Harbour Town Golf Links as this week’s tournament will be played without fans in attendance.

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Harman made his PGA Tour debut here in 2004, playing as an amateur in front of a gallery packed with friends and family. The vibe will be a lot different this year. Harman got a taste of the new world last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas, where he shot 8-under par and finished in a tie for 23rd to earn $65,250.

“Having all the friends and family can really help, or it can hurt sometimes. You put all this extra pressure on yourself to try to do well,” Harman said in an online interview with reporters on Tuesday. “With no fans and no family and friends, it’s more just about the golf. So I’m going to try to take this opportunity to try to focus on the golf and try to do the best I can.

“I played a little bit of golf on the mini-tours and played plenty in college with no fans, so it’s not that foreign to us, but it’s definitely preferable to have them out there.”

An avid hunter and fisherman, Harman said he made the most of his time off during the suspension of PGA Tour play due to the coronavirus.

“I was a party to killing a few turkeys, killed one myself. Bought me a new tractor. I’ve been busy. Got the yard looking good. It was a nice break,” said Harman, currently No. 125 in the World Golf Ranking. “It was nice to kind of do some of the stuff during the spring that I always wish I had more time to do.

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“But I’m excited to get back, and my game’s in good shape.”

His best finish this season came in September, where he tied for third at A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier in West Virginia to pocket $366,094. He has won more than $16 million in his career.

Last week he played well at Colonial, and Harman can’t wait to tee it up Thursday in a star-studded field that includes 17 of the top 20 players in the world with 114 golfers who have PGA Tour wins, including Harman.

Getting more irons

“I put in a new set of irons that I’d been working on through the break,” Harman said. “It’s always been kind of my big disappointment with my golf game over the years has just been my mid- to long-iron play. So I tried some new irons last week. My strokes on approaches to the green were better than they usually are there. So I’m excited about that.

“I didn’t drive the ball particularly well last week, which is usually one of my strong points. I feel like that will come back sooner than later, and I’m excited to get going.”

Course conditions will be a bit different playing at Harbour Town two months later than usual. But Harman knows the course well and is ready to make adjustments.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever actually played the course during the summertime. Every time I’ve come, it’s been early to try to play it before the tournament or during the tournament, but I tend to enjoy courses that don’t have overseed and are strictly Bermuda.

“I think the fairways will probably be a little bit tougher to hit because the ball’s not going to stop as fast. …. The greens are going to be a little harder to hit, and they’re already small. They should play a little bit firmer. They probably won’t roll quite as good as they do with that real tight overseed. But the greens are small enough and they’re flat enough that I’d imagine guys are still going to make a lot of putts around here.”

Harman played the back nine Tuesday and said he would play the front nine in a Wednesday practice round.

“I haven’t seen it yet. I’m going to go out and play nine this afternoon and nine tomorrow, and I’ll have a better idea then. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

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Players say the time is at hand for PGA Tour to return safely

The players have spoken, with most agreeing its time for the PGA Tour to return safely.

Too soon?

That’s the question lingering over the PGA Tour’s intent to move, cautiously as it will, toward a restart of the season next month in Texas.

As much of the country slowly opens up and eases shelter-at-home measures – to varying degrees of success and failure – the Tour sent a health and safety plan to players Tuesday that outlines protocols for resumption of play June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.

Titled “Return to Golf,” the blueprint that is ever evolving – a lengthy plan developed in coordination with health experts in the field of infectious diseases, the Federal Coronavirus Task Force and other specialists and laboratory directors – outlines safety and health protocols for the Tour’s return.

From layered and constant testing to social distancing measures to one host hotel to fans not being allowed for at least the first four events, the PGA Tour is attempting to create a “bubble” of protection for players, caddies, staff, media, volunteers and others that will attend events.

It’s sort of a shelter-at-home standard on steroids.

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Players intending to play at Colonial know some question the return date, that it might be premature considering much is still unknown about the highly contagious coronavirus. Risk remains, with criticism at the ready around any dogleg.

But the PGA Tour hasn’t rushed toward its hopeful return despite losing untold millions since the COVID-19 global pandemic halted play March 12. And many players take that with a measure of confidence.

“All of us have to assume some amount of risk to get back to work,” said Kevin Kisner, a player director on the PGA Tour’s policy board. “If we sit around and wait on a vaccine that we don’t even know when or how effective it’s going to be, we could be out of work for a year or more.

“So, we’re going to go about with the safest, healthiest way to get back to work and have a quality product for our fans, have a presentable product for TV and help the world with something to watch.”

The PGA Tour hasn’t left every stone unturned – no one can – but it’s turned a lot of pebbles. And the Tour is steadfast in pulling the plug if matters worsen at any time. Still, a sense of uneasiness will be a 15^th club in the bag for players.

“Given the state of affairs right now, you have to have a plan,” said two-time major champion Zach Johnson, who is on the players advisory council. “Given that each locality has different regulations and mandates, the PGA Tour is taking everything into consideration. I’m comfortable with it. The bottom line is we can’t mitigate the entire risk. No one can. If that’s the case, don’t go to the grocery store.

“This thing is not going away. You can’t mitigate the entire risk. At some point you have to open up this country. You have to start thinking about some semblance of normalcy. We are just golf. But the beauty of golf is we are outside, we can take social distancing to the extremes, and within our bubble we can create as much safety as we can. I don’t think it’s too soon.”

Neither does Harold Varner III, who is heading from North Carolina to Florida to ramp up his practice and play to get ready for the restart.

“I have to live,” Varner said. “I have to get my life back to normal as much as possible. I’ll do whatever they say, I’ll follow all the rules. We can’t live in fear.

“We have to start to get back up from off the floor.”

Traveling, the players said, presents risk. The PGA Tour will have a charter plane for 170 players and caddies – first come, first serve – and private aircraft will be utilized by some players. Still, many players, caddies and staff will be flying commercially. As well, the possibility of contracting the virus is real.

But the show has to start sometime.

“It’s important that we make the effort to get started again,” Brian Harman said. “It’s important for the country that we all start easing back into work because at some point or another, we have to get over this thing, as awful as it’s been and is. In some way, shape or form, we have to get things moving again.

“I’m very proud of the Tour for trying everything they can to get us back safely and to be one of the first sports to get back going again. I think the image will be if we can get this off without a hitch, it could sort of set the stage for everything to move forward to getting back to normal.

“I want to participate and I want to compete again, but if I feel there is an undue risk that I’m going to catch this thing and get stuck somewhere, then I’ll just go home and wait until it’s a little bit better.”

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Brian Harman playing golf, hunting, ‘eating nothing but wild game’

Brian Harman is still playing golf. Hunting and fishing are regular activities, too, during Georgia’s shelter-in-place order.

There is no timetable when life’s lessons arrive.

For PGA Tour veteran Brian Harman, one of his guiding principles landed with force when he was 8 and messing around in the backyard with his brother. Shooting at various targets with a BB gun, times were good before Harman accidently ended the existence of a squirrel with one true shot.

Shortly thereafter, his father came out of the house and dropped some wisdom.

“Now you have to take care of it,” he said. “You don’t kill for fun.”

Harman got the message he carries to this day. He cleaned the animal and “we ate the squirrel.” He laughs now about that moment in the backyard but holds true to his heart the words his father spoke that day.

“It built a deep respect for animals,” Harman said. “What they provide. They are a renewable resource. Being able to know where your meat comes from is important to me, being able to take care of the animal once you’ve killed it shows immense respect to the animal.

“I am not a fan of people who kill for sport. I enjoy hunting but I also enjoy taking care of the animal after the fact and helping to feed my family with it.”
Whether in a tree stand, tracking through woods, casting a fishing line or on the first tee facing the best golfers in the world, hunting is in Harman’s DNA.

The singular pursuit that gets the ticker flowing, the solidarity of preparation, the sense of providing all resonate whether he has a bow, gun, rod or golf club in hand.

PGA Tour pro Brian Harman shows off a tripletail fish that he recently caught. Photo by Brian Harman

Heck, he asked his wife, Kelly, to marry him before going out to hunt turkeys, taping the engagement ring inside the pocket of her new camouflage pants. Guy marks his golf balls with dots that look like deer tracks.

He’s darn good with his weapons, too. The former Georgia Bulldog has won two titles and more than $16 million on the PGA Tour and regularly fills his multiple freezers with the fruits of his successful quests. While he gives away a lot of meat to friends and neighbors, if need be, his stock could last two years in the freezers.

Harman, who killed his first deer at age 12, bagged an 850-pound elk six months ago that yielded 300 pounds of meat, much of it still in his freezers. A regular companion of his on hunting trips is Patton Kizzire, so it made sense that in addition to their successful wild turkey shoots the two teamed to win the 2018 QBE Shootout.

His home on St. Simon’s Island on the Georgia coast is the perfect local for Harman and his pursuits. With the global COVID-19 epidemic shutting down his job on the golf course, the waters and forests remain.

“I’ve been eating nothing but wild game this whole time,” Harman said.
He is still hitting balls and playing golf three to four times a week. Hunting and fishing are regular activities, too. For now, Georgia’s shelter-in-place order allows Harman to play golf, hunt or fish.

“I’ve definitely thought about what would happen if the shelter at home orders became more stringent and I couldn’t play golf, couldn’t hunt,” Harman said. “We’ll participate with whatever the state deems is the safest way to combat this. But out in the woods is about as isolated and quarantined as you can get.”

And hunting and fishing benefit his golf career.

PGA Tour pro Brian Harman poses with a turkey that he shot. Photo by Brian Harman

“When I’m hunting, that’s where I get most of my mental work for golf done. I’m always thinking about what I can do to get better,” Harman said. “And both take a lot of patience and both frustrate you to your wit’s end. Both can be extremely rewarding, but you fail way more than you succeed in hunting, and that’s the same way it is in golf. It’s a mind game in the woods and on the golf course, a chess match that challenges every time.”

And if he has to put the clubs, bows, guns and rods away, he’ll be just fine spending even more time sheltered at home with his wife, daughter, Cooper, 4, and son Walter, who turns 2 in July. But he can’t wait to get back out to the PGA Tour.

“I’ve told my wife that I don’t know if I could hunt or fish every single day but I could play golf every day if I had to,” Harman said. “I love golf. I like going out and hitting balls. It’s been kind of nice to go out and practice and hit balls because it’s enjoyable and not because I’m having to get ready for something.

“I’d love to be playing right now because I’m hitting it great, but I can wait until we can play when it’s safe. We will overcome this. Right now is about looking within and focusing on my family.”

And proving for them one successful hunting trip at a time.

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Instruction: Jack Lumpkin, Brian Harman find success with ‘old-school teamwork’

Brian Harman skipped football practice one day when he was 11 to take a lesson from Jack Lumpkin. All these years later, they’re still together.

Brian Harman skipped football practice one day when he was 11 years old. His mother, Nancy, drove him from their home in Savannah, Georgia, to Sea Island, where he took an hour-long lesson from Jack Lumpkin, a fixture on every list of top golf instructors. Growing up on a golf course, Harman had picked up the game on his own, but he wanted to find out what one of the best teachers thought of his ability.

“He didn’t tell me to get lost,” Harman said. “He told me I was doing well and come back in a few months and he’d check me again. For me, that was like a rite of passage. I started going once every six months, and our relationship just grew from there.”

That initial lesson was equally as meaningful for Lumpkin, who knew talent when he’d seen it and from Harman’s very first swing knew he’d seen something special.

“There was no doubt in my mind that he was going to be a Tour player if he was inclined to do that,” Lumpkin remembered. “After that first lesson, I couldn’t wait to see him again. I used to wait to see his name in my lesson book because I just knew how good he was going to be.”

All these years later, Harman, 32, and Lumpkin, 84, are still together. Their hard work has made Harman a two-time PGA Tour winner, most recently at the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship.

“Jack is Brian’s safety net,” said World Golf Hall of Fame member Davis Love III, a fellow Lumpkin student. “He’s like ordering your favorite comfort food at a restaurant.”

Lumpkin played on the PGA Tour in 1958-59, but he was married and had two young kids to think about and accepted a position as an assistant golf professional. He learned the ropes under Masters champion Claude Harmon, father of Butch, at Winged Foot, and was head professional in 1968 at Oak Hill Country Club when it hosted the U.S. Open.

Lumpkin moved back to his native Georgia and, in 1976, joined the Golf Digest Schools with the likes of Jim Flick, Davis Love Jr. and Bob Toski. He came to Sea Island Resort as its director of instruction on Jan. 1, 1989, seven weeks after Love Jr., his best friend, died in a plane crash.

Lumpkin, the PGA Professional of the Year in 1995, is the type of pro who has forgotten more than most instructors know. Harman describes him as “old-school,” while embracing the latest technology such as V1 Golf, a swing analysis tool, Swing Catalyst, and TrackMan launch monitors for dialing in performance, but never as a crutch.

When Harman won his first PGA Tour title at the 2014 John Deere Classic, Lumpkin was one of the first people he thanked. Their work together has a certain rhythm that Lumpkin calls “guided discovery.” Rather than spoon-feeding a swing fix to Harman, Lumpkin has a habit of subtly mentioning how he likes a move made by a certain player. That player’s swing may just so happen to be on the screen in Lumpkin’s office for them to review.

“Then he lets me figure it out until it becomes second nature and I own it,” Harman said.

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PGA Tour players share memories of best Christmas presents they’ve received

Justin Thomas still has one of the treasured golf gifts he received as a kid.

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Editor’s note: This story originally ran on Dec. 22, 2017.

Back in the day, when golf manufacturers weren’t sending boxes upon boxes of goodies for free, William McGirt had to rely on Santa Claus for his next addition to the golf bag.

While the winner of the 2016 Memorial said most of his presents at Christmas were golf related, the gift he got when he was 15 stood out.

“I remember one year when graphite shafts first came out and I was dying to have a driver with a graphite shaft. I don’t remember the exact model of the shaft, but I do remember it was a Mizuno driver and I thought it was the greatest thing in the world,” McGirt said.

Only one problem.

“I couldn’t hit it very well,” McGirt added with a laugh.

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A driver Brian Harman got worked very well.

“I got a TaylorMade Burner Bubble driver when I was 13,” said the winner of the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship. “That was the driver to have back then. And boy, did it work. It was great.”

With the holiday season upon us, some of golf’s best players in the world took a drive down memory lane to the times they unwrapped their presents hoping to see the latest golf equipment that would head straight to their golf bag.

“As a kid, I remember my first set of irons,” former world No. 1 Luke Donald said. “I was 12 years old and I got Seve (Ballesteros) irons and they were the greatest thing I ever saw.”

Justin Thomas still has one of the gifts he got as a kid. The 11-time winner on Tour said his mom and dad would play a little game of hide-and-seek with his “big” present hidden somewhere else in the house.

“I remember one year, I don’t know how old I was, but I was opening my presents. I was sitting on the floor and I (saw) a golf club box or whatever wrapped under the couch,” Thomas said. “I’m like, ‘What’s that?’ And they saw that I saw it and noticed I pulled it out. I think it was a Scottie Cameron that year that I still have. That was a pretty cool gift.”

World Golf Hall of Fame member Davis Love III didn’t have his own full set of clubs for years after he picked up the game. His bag was full of his mom’s leftover clubs, or his dad’s backup clubs. That changed as he unwrapped his presents when he was 15.

“I got a set of Hogan Apex irons from my dad, who was on the Hogan staff,” Love said. “I finally had my own clubs. When I got those Apex irons, it was great. And that’s exactly what I asked Santa for.

Patrick Reed said the best golf-related present he ever got was an early Christmas present gift he received from a friend of his. He got it a few weeks ahead of the 2016 Ryder Cup, where he played a starring role as the U.S. defeated Europe for the first time since 2008.

It was a golf bag, but not just any golf bag. No, his friend got a Callaway staff bag made specifically to honor Arnold Palmer at the Masters one year. Then his friend got the King to sign the bag for Reed.

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“I always wanted to get a bag signed by Mr. Palmer but I really was never around him much,” Reed said. “And I got it before the Ryder Cup and it’s in my office and I see it every time I walk into the office. It’s just great. Best golf present I’ve ever gotten.”

Justin Leonard can’t remember the best golf-related Christmas present he got. He said he obviously got plenty of golf presents as a kid but nothing, no matter how long he jogged his memory, popped up. Instead of a driver, a lightsaber stood out in his Christmas presents.

“Seriously, I can’t remember any golf equipment,” said the winner of 12 PGA Tour titles, including the 1997 Open Championship. “But I remember when I was 5, I got a sweet Stars Wars watch. That was the coolest thing I ever got.”

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QBE Shootout odds, predictions, picks and PGA Tour best bets

Analyzing the 2019 QBE Shootout and which teams of golfers are the best options for the event. Who will win at Tiburon Golf Club?

Twelve two-man teams will compete in the QBE Shootout at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., this weekend. The 54-hole event runs three days, from Friday through Sunday.

The first round is played under scramble rules, whereby both members of each team will play every shot with the better ball being taken each time. Round 2 consists of greensomes, where both players tee off on each hole and the alternate shot is played from the spot of the better ball.

The final round is played under standard four-ball rules with each golfer playing the hole on their own and the best score being taken.

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The 7,288-yard venue plays as a par 72. The teams compete for a $3.5 million purse, but it is not an official money event and no FedExCup points are awarded.

QBE Shootout – Odds, picks and best bets

Matthew Wolff. (Photo Credit: Rob Kinnan – USA TODAY Sports)

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET.

Viktor Hovland-Matthew Wolff (+600)

The two combine for just 42 years of age, making them younger than several of the individual golfers in this event. Hovland is expected to be a top contender for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, while Wolff came up just short of the award last year.

Hovland, 22, placed solo fourth at last season’s Wyndham Championship for the best result of his young career. He’s ranked 96th by the Official World Golf Ranking, while Wolff, who got his first career win at the 3M Open last summer, is 117th in the world. Their odds are lower as fan favorites, but the youngsters have the length and putting, and the motivation for the early-career win in an uninspired field.

Charles Howell III-Bubba Watson (+800)

Watson, ranked 44th by the OWGR, is coming off a last-place finish at last week’s Hero World Challenge. Howell, ranked 54th in the world, missed the cut at the RSM Classic as his last event. The two combined for four victories in 2018.

Howell finished tied for third here last year with partner Luke List. Watson was sixth with Harold Varner III.

Charley Hoffman-Kevin Kisner (+1200)

Hoffman also finished T-3 a year ago (with partner Gary Woodland), while Kisner finished last with playing partner Cameron Champ. Kisner tied for seventh at last week’s Hero World Challenge exhibition. The two have plenty of length off the tee, and Kisner, who’s the defending match-play champion, can get hot and carry the team with his putter.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Brian Harman enjoying the home cooking this week at RSM Classic, and hitting all 18 greens

Local resident Brian Harman hit 18 greens in regulation for just the second time in his career during the second round of the RSM Classic.

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Brian Harman is enjoying sleeping in his own bed this week at the RSM Classic. He’s hosting his parents and has his caddie, Scott Tway, in his guest house, and every night they’ve been firing up the grill.

“We had elk tenderloin two nights ago, we had tomahawk pork chops and then we had beef tenderloin last night, so we’re eating well,” Harman said. “We’re dialing it back tonight. Chicken breasts.”

About the only thing better than his home cooking this week is his ballstriking. Harman, 32, hit all 18 greens at Sea Island’s Seaside Course in the second round en route to shooting 4-under 66 and finishing T-11 and five shots back of leader Tyler Duncan. It marked the second time in his career that he hasn’t missed a green in regulation.

SCORES: Check in with the RSM Classic leaderboard

“Anytime you don’t have to chip, it’s a fun day,” Harman said. “My ballstriking is as good as it has ever been, probably even better than when I was 20^th in the world. I just have to get my putting back to where it was.”

It’s been a challenging year for Harman, who reached No. 20 in the world in February 2018 but slipped to No. 123 entering the RSM. He needed a hot streak late in the season to make the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the eighth straight year. Harman says he suffered from mental fatigue and blamed the Tour’s wraparound schedule – “it’s hard not to think about it,” he said – for the “crippling anxiety” of trying to turn his season around.

“We play so much golf now that it’s impossible to be mentally engaged for a year straight. You need to be able to build in breaks so it is always fresh and you’re not just going through the motions,” Harman said. “I want to take time off until I miss it and I want to come back and work again. With the wraparound schedule you have to be resilient, you have to be tough and I didn’t feel very tough at the beginning of the season.”

Harman turned the corner with a T-6 finish at The Travelers in June, and a few weeks later at the 3M Championship he had a heart to heart with himself before the final round.

“I should be trying to win this golf tournament, not worrying about what’s going to happen. So, I just made the choice that day that whatever happened, I was going to act like I had been there before,” he said.

Harman ended the 2018-19 season with four top 10s in his last seven events. When he didn’t advance past the first FedEx Cup playoff event, Harman had a month-long layoff, which was a blessing in disguise.

“That was my first month off, continuous month off in three years,” Harman said. “Whereas like my rookie year, you could take three or four months off and you could show up in Hawaii and be fresh and ready to go. It’s just a different dynamic. I think it’s probably why the Tour’s getting younger, just because things are kind of ramped up.”

Harman showed no rust after his extended time off, notching a T-3 finish at A Tribute to Military at The Greenbrier in the Tour’s season-opening event.

“That just kind of gives me a little freedom to know that I can take some time off when I need to try to avoid getting too bogged down and too, you know, just golf, golf, golf,” he said.

Harman enters the weekend at the RSM Classic in striking distance, four strokes off the pace set by 36-hole leader Tyler Duncan as he seeks his first win since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship. In seven previous starts, Harman’s best finish at his home game is a T-4 in 2018, but he’s also missed the cut twice.

“It used to kind of bug me a little bit,” he said of playing at Sea Island, “it’s kind of like I wanted to play well so badly, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve just kind of embraced it. It’s just a fun week, man. Let’s have fun, let’s have a good time. It seems to be helping a little bit.”

And what would it mean to win the RSM Classic?

“It would mean the world, man,” he said. “All of them are important. This one would be really special.”

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