Well Played
British Open 2023: Brian Harman didn't want to tempt the golf gods in this awkward TV interview
Brian Harman has played some brilliant golf through three days at the Open Championship, but he's also been very strategic. Most notably, the two-time PGA Tour winner has made smart choices off the tee to avoid Royal Liverpool's plethora of pot bunkers, and the lefty aimed well left on 18 Saturday to stay away from that infamous internal out of bounds. But his safest choice of the week wound up coming after he shot a Saturday 69 to grab a five-shot lead heading into the final round.
While doing an interview with NBC Sports' Cara Banks, the 36-year-old was asked about his "hot putter and finding something in recent weeks. What was that?" But Brian wasn't about to take the bait and possibly tempt the golf gods on the eve of the biggest day of his life. Have a look:
Wow. Just a flat-out non-answer answer. Even with Harman flashing a grind, it made for an awkward bit of live TV, but we certainly get it. And so did NBC's Paul Azinger.
"He’s right to not answer that question," the 1993 PGA Championship winner said moments later. "Good job, Brian."
Well, whatever Harman found recently, it's certainly working. He easily leads the field thus far in strokes gained putting, picking up an absurd 3.08 strokes on the greens per round.
As Azinger also said, Harman has "at least one finger on the claret jug" right about now. And he obviously knows it. Which is why he's keeping his two lips closed as much as possible before he actually gets his hands on the trophy.