2023 British Open leaderboard, winner: Brian Harman claims Claret Jug in dominant fashion at Royal Liverpool

Harman, 36, putted his way to victory at The Open Championship becoming the oldest first-time major winner since 2017

Despite not having won on the PGA Tour since 2017 and entering the week with 175-1 odds to claim his first major championship, Brian Harman on Sunday rode a sterling putting performance all week at Royal Liverpool to victory at the 151st Open Championship and the title of Champion Golfer of the Year for 2023. Harman was not the most popular player in Hoylake, England; he was neither the best ball striker nor the most impressive driver. But when that final putt dropped, he was undoubtedly the best golfer this week, silencing all doubters and claiming the Claret Jug.

Harman at 13 under entered the winner's circle to grasp his first major triumph with a six-stroke victory over Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Tom Kim and Sepp Straka, who all tied for second. He became the first American since Stewart Cink in 2009 to claim his first major at an Open, and at age 37, became the oldest first-time major winner since Sergio Garcia won the 2017 Masters at age 37.

Since he last won on the PGA Tour 2,268 days ago, Harman had made 167 starts with 32 top 10 finishes. This year alone, he missed the cut at the Masters and PGA Championship before finishing 42nd at the U.S. Open last month.

Harman, who became the 15th American to win The Open in the last 20 years, maintained the successful 100% conversion rate of 54-hole leaders who have taken a five-stroke-or-greater advantage into the final round at majors since 2000. In doing so, he joined the likes of Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Peter Thomson, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to raise the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool.

Harman's weekend was emblematic of his competitiveness. While the Hoylake faithful willed on the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, Harman went to work in blue-collar fashion. He kept his head down and plodded along as cheers for his competitors' birdies (and his own bogeys) were hollered from the crowd. In fact, his 106 putts on the week were the fewest by an Open winner over the last two decades.

Intrigue grew with the ebbs and flows of the championship, but so did the chips on Harman's shoulders. Stepping into the latter stages of the tournament with a five-stroke advantage, the world No. 26 -- who will enter the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings with this victory -- was unfairly compared to unlikely champions of the past like Ben Curtis and Todd Hamilton.

There were moments where it felt as if Harman would never get across the finish line. He saw his lead cut to two strokes just five holes into his third round, but it ultimately returned to where it began heading into the final 18. In a repeat of the day prior, Sunday's start was no breeze for Harman. With rain pelting down on the field and McIlroy making his patented early charge, he ran into some adversity with a pair of early bogeys.

Rahm lurked in the rear view and grew larger once his first birdie effectively cut Harman's advantage to three. However, we had seen this movie just 24 hours ago. While the stakes may have been higher and the plot thicker, the conclusion was the same. Harman marched on without emotion, just the gloves hanging from his capaciously large umbrella. Backward hats injected energy into the crowd, but birdies on Nos. 6-7 sucked the air out of the tournament. One hour into his final round, Harman's lead was cut to three; two hours in, it ballooned back to six.

The continued string of quality shots continued into the final nine of the championship, as did the realization of what some failed to admit since Friday afternoon: Harman was a class above the rest at Hoylake, and not even the stress of the weekend at a major could change that.

2023 Open Championship leaderboard

1. Brian Harman (-13)

T2. Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Tom Kim, Jason Day (-7): The Spaniard became a large object in the rear view mirror of Harman when he avoided the gorse bush on the par-5 5th and carded his first birdie of the day. After beginning the day six paces off the lead, he found himself only three adrift through his first five holes. Despite holding the most wins on the PGA Tour and standing as the No. 3 golfer in the world, Rahm has put together a somewhat-inconsistent campaign this year. He arrived at The Open off his first missed cut in over 600 days and did not really factor in either the PGA Championship or U.S. Open. The Open would have been a nice notch on his belt and a bow on an all-time season, but instead, it will just serve as another reminder of Rahm's high-level quality highlighted by his record 63 on Saturday.

An alumnus of Georgia like Harman, Straka finishing second made an interesting 1-2 pairing for Bulldogs fans. Kim was exceptional Sunday with his 67 matching the lowest round of the day as he moved from below the cut line after 18 holes to a $1.1 million payday. Day was in contention for most of the tournament -- as "in contention" as anyone could find themselves behind Harman -- and ultimately claimed his best finish at a major since 2016.

T6. Rory McIlroy, Emiliano Grillo (-6): It wasn't as close a call from a year ago at St. Andrews or this year's prior major at the U.S. Open, but it still must sting for McIlroy. Since the start of 2022, the four-time major champion has seven top-10 finishes in the eight majors with four of those doubling as top-five results. McIlroy put an admirable charge together early in the final round with three birdies in his first five holes, but he ultimately ran out of steam and signed for a 3-under 68. This was the story of McIlroy's weekend at Hoylake, as it was the final 13 holes from Saturday's round that he may point to as the main culprit. On a day where the course scoring average was under par, McIlroy played his final 13 in Round 3 in 1 over and failed to close the gap between himself and the lead rendering any Sunday heroics useless.

"Over the last two years, would I have loved to have picked one of those off that I finished up there? Absolutely," said McIlroy. "But every time I tee it up or most times I tee it up, I'm right there. I can't sit here and be too frustrated. My game is ... you think about my performances in the majors between like 2016 and 2019, it's a lot better than that. I'm optimistic about the future and just got to keep plugging away."

T8. Shubhankar Sharma, Cameron Young (-5): It was a great week for the man who many remember as the 54-hole leader at the WGC-Mexico Championship in 2018. Sharma hasn't had his best stuff on the DP World Tour this season -- he had missed seven of 11 cuts -- but he had it this week when it mattered. With his top-10 finish, the 26-year-old earned his place in the field for next year's Open. Young looked like he might finish second to Harman after 54 holes but was unable to put his best stuff together in Sunday's final round.

T10. Max Homa, Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Jordan(-4): It will go down as Homa's best major championship finish, and perhaps it will serve as a launch pad for him into 2024. The six-time winner on the PGA Tour has struggled on this stage, and after missing the cut at the U.S. Open in his hometown, this result is one on which to hang his hat. He had one prior major top-20 finish in 16 tries and had done no better than T43 this year. A pairing with McIlroy on Saturday gave Homa the feel of major contention over the weekend as he looks to transform himself into a consistent factor in these championships next season.

"I think kind of everything I took from the Friday at [Los Angeles Country Club] to basically this whole week," said Homa. "Just lack of commitment issues and trying too hard, I guess, and kind of caring about the outcome instead of just trusting that, over the course of 72 holes, I'm a very good golfer and I will show that if I let myself. I think that's what I learned."

Homa's hometown pressure from the U.S. Open fell on the shoulders of Fleetwood this week. What could have been. The Englishman shot out to the first-round co-lead, but the putter proved too cold over the final 54 holes. Despite his putter's uncooperative nature, the local favorite got as close as two during the third round. He carded just three birdies over the final 36 holes to get lapped as the sound ball striking and high-percentage golf was not enough to mask the shortcomings with the blade. 

Rick Gehman is joined by Kyle Porter, Patrick McDonald and Greg DuCharme to break down Brian Harman's dominant win at the 151st Open Championship. It's storylines, a betting recap and the One & Done. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.