Brian Harman

Harman produced a truly dominant performance to secure the Claret Jug by six strokes at Royal Liverpool.

The third left-handed Champion Golfer after Bob Charles (1963) and Phil Mickelson (2013), Harman took charge of proceedings with a stunning 65 on Friday that earned him a five-shot lead at the halfway stage.

That advantage was maintained on Saturday and Harman then displayed immense resolve and skill to get the job done on Sunday, mastering heavy rain and considerable pressure to finish with a 70 and a 13-under aggregate of 271.

Harman earned his place at Hoylake 12 months earlier when he finished joint sixth at St Andrews, his best result in a major since the 2017 US Open.

He led by one with a round to go at Erin Hills, but was then overtaken by Brooks Koepka and had to settle for the joint runners-up spot alongside Hideki Matsuyama.

That same season saw Harman win the Wells Fargo Championship and by the following January he stood a career-high 20th in the world. He was also the 2003 US junior champion and suffered only one defeat at the 2005 and 2009 Walker Cups.

His first PGA Tour victory was in the 2014 John Deere Classic, which gave him the final exempt spot in The Open at Royal Liverpool a week later.