Hunt club

Runaway leader Harman poised to bag first major title

The fascination with Brian Harman at the British Open has little to do with his golf so far. It’s rare in Britain to hear tales of hunting turkey, learning to skin a deer at age eight and packing wild game in the freezer for his family to eat.

One tabloid called him “Brian the Butcher.” Another headline screamed: “I Shoot to Thrill.”

Harman’s only concern is bagging the biggest trophy of his career, and he stayed on target Saturday by overcoming an early wobble with a remarkably steady hand.

His eight-foot par putt on the last hole at Royal Liverpool gave him a 2-under 69 and allowed him to keep his five-shot lead, leaving him 18 holes away from becoming a major champion.

“I’ve thought about winning majors for my whole entire life,” Harman said. “It’s the whole reason I work as hard as I do and why I practise as much as I do and why I sacrifice as much as I do. (On Sunday) if that’s going to come to fruition for me, it has to be all about the golf. It has to be execution and just staying in the moment.”

He said he is most proud of making the FedEx Cup playoffs each of his 12 years on the PGA Tour, where he has two wins in 335 tournaments.

Sunday could change all that. His lead remained five shots. Only the contenders changed on a wet day at the British Open.

Cameron Young, the runner-up at St. Andrews a year ago, showed superb touch from a pot bunker in front of the 18th green that set up a tap-in birdie for a 66 and put him in the final pairing with Harman on Sunday. “I feel like he’s not someone to back down,” Young said.

Equally daunting is the sight of Jon Rahm, finally getting rewarded with a 63 that he capped off just as Harman was starting. It was the lowest round, by two shots, ever recorded in an Open at Royal Liverpool, hosting the oldest championship for the 13th time.

“That’s the best round I’ve played on a links course,” Rahm said.

When it was pointed out that his idol, Seve Ballesteros, never shot 63 in a major, Rahm quickly replied, “I’d rather win three times and never shoot 63.”

At least Rahm has a chance, which looked unlikely when he began the third round in the rain and wind and was 12 shots out of the lead.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., the only Canadian who made the cut, shot a 3-under 68 on Saturday and trails Harman by 11 strokes.

Harman was at 12-under 201 and he has history on his side. Jean Van de Velde is the last player to lose a five-shot lead in the final round of a major.

That was at Carnoustie in 1999 and featured one of the most dumfounding triple bogeys ever on the 72nd hole of a major.

Harman, the gritty little lefty from Georgia, is not prone to such blunders. He has made the five-shot margin feel larger where he’s been hitting the golf ball and he rarely has been out of position.

The day was a big disappointment for so many others, starting with Rory McIlroy.

He opened with three birdies in five holes and looked primed to post the kind of score Rahm did earlier. But he didn’t make birdie the rest of the way, and the finish was particularly painful. McIlroy missed birdie chances from eight, 12 and 10 feet.

He chose not to speak to the media for the second time, heading straight to the putting green. McIlroy shot 69 and was nine shots behind, his hopes all but over of ending his nine-year drought in the majors.

Fleetwood rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 2 and then didn’t make a birdie the rest of the day. He had to settle for a 71, leaving him in the group at 5-under 208 — seven shots out of the lead — with Jason Day, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka and Antoine Rozner.

So the hunter is now the hunted, and Harman is OK with that.

Nothing short of a silver claret jug is on the line, one trophy that doesn’t go in the freezer.