HILTON HEAD, S.C. — The last few weeks have been a wild ride for Savannah native Brian Harman as he picked up his fourth career victory at the Valero Texas Open and then went on to play one of the most stressful events in the world at the 89th Masters Tournament — before coming back close to home for his 16th appearance in the RBC Heritage.
The win in San Antonio came a year and eight months after Harman’s career-defining victory at the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in England. He rode the adrenaline rush from the Valero win straight to Augusta National, where he finished in a tie for 36th last week.
After shooting a 66 that had him in a tie for fifth after the first round of the 57th RBC Heritage on Thursday, Harman said he was feeling a little run down after a mentally taxing few weeks. But he was still able to grind his way around Harbour Town Golf Links to shoot a 2-under par 69. He is at 7-under for the tournament in a tie for sixth place headed into the weekend.
Harman birdied the par-5 fifth hole with a 6-foot putt and made another birdie at No. 12, where he holed his longest putt of the day from 25 feet. He dialed in a 54-degree wedge at the par-4 16th to 6 feet for another birdie. He saved par on the 18th from 5 feet, and had another strong par save with an 11-foot putt on the par-3 14th hole.
“I was a little off today, especially with the wedges and happy to get in with a couple under,” said the 38-year old Savannah Christian and University of Georgia alum. “I’m feeling a little rundown. Just a win, and then the Masters takes it out of you every year. I just need to regroup and try to get some rest.
“I’d love to go practice wedges because that was kind of the shortcoming today,” he said. “But at the same time, I know I’m probably better served to go lay on the couch.”
The RBC Heritage is a Signature Event on the PGA Tour with 72 players in the field — and no cut, so everyone is competing on the weekend. The pace of play has been fast the first two days and Harman got around Harbour Town Golf Links with playing partner Byeong Hun An of South Korea in just over four hours Friday. He said that was a benefit of playing in a Signature Event as opposed to a full-field event, where pace of play can become a problem.
“In threesomes with split tees, there’s nowhere to go. You just can’t play. We would be probably 4:45 to 5 (hours) in threesomes here off of two tees,” Harman said. “It’s one of those things. That’s what the Tour is trying to figure out how we’re going to balance it. I don’t think the Tour really wants to shrink fields, but we can’t finish in daylight … Guys take longer because the courses are harder, and we can’t finish.
“It certainly helps get in a rhythm,” he said of playing in twosomes. “If you’re standing around watching the group in front of you all day — you have to find things to occupy your mind. I’ve played fine in threesomes, but I would prefer it, especially on the weekend, to be in twosomes.”
Pace of play shouldn’t be a problem this weekend as the format will continue to be twosomes. Harman is looking to better his best finish at Harbour Town of a tie for 7th in 2023.
“I had a bunch of looks, just didn’t really have it close to the hole very much,” Harman said of his Friday round. “I’ve just got to rest up and get some sleep tonight and hopefully fire on all cylinders next couple of days.”
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at [email protected]. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
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