Horses for Courses is a term used in golf vernacular and refers to a pocket-size selection of PGA Tour Professionals winning on golf courses that suit their games, styles, and strengths.
Jack Nicklaus prevailed at the Augusta National Golf Club and won the Masters six times; Tiger Woods flourished at Torrey Pines, Bay Hill, and Firestone, where he repeated as Champion eight times; and Sam Snead was victorious in the Miami Open six times at Bayshore Country Club.
These were not mere coincidences, nor were they chances of fate.
Those golf courses complied with and complemented those PGA Tour Stars’ talents and athleticism.
Brian Harman’s triumph in the 151st Open Championship contested at Royal Liverpool in the Village of Hoylake, on the outskirts of Merseyside, England, on July 23rd, 2023, shares this same happenstance.
There are approximately sixty million golfers worldwide, and twelve percent of those players hit from the left side, for just over seven million participants playing left-handed.
Yet, until now, only a dozen Southpaws have succeeded professionally; however, those twelve have significantly impacted Professional Golf worldwide while competing at similar locations in the same tournaments.
Accounting for eighty-three Professional Victories and ten Major Championships.
Of those ten Majors won by lefties, five were at the Masters, and three were at the Open Championship.
There is validation for this.
One hundred and fifty-one times, the Open Championship has been contested over its history, and the Claret Jug, which symbolizes ownership and the title of Champion Golfer of the Year, has been claimed by a left-handed player three times, Bob Charles in 1963, Phil Mickelson in 2013, and Brian Harman in the most recent competition.
This is not a quirk of fortune.
Championship venues of substantial quality and characteristics commonly share a design aspect that rewards aggressive draws by right-handed players shaping the ball right-to-left off the tee with drives that sometimes tend to run out and through the fairway, especially on specific courses.
Hooking tee shots while adding distance also harshly punishes errant, careless, or haphazard attempts at tee balls that veer off to the right side of the fairway.
Portions of the golf course that typically contain the bulk of natural and artificial hazards, compounding the risk, penalties, and consequences of wayward-struck shots.
Augusta National, Royal Liverpool, and a few other demanding, challenging golf courses in the Championship Rota sometimes differ in this line of attack.
Occasionally courses that host Major Championships will reward a power fade favored by more accomplished and skilled players.
A less stressful and controllable golf shot accomplished under the tension and pressure of high-stakes competition with less error in its execution.
Moving the ball right-to-left off the tee by both right and left-handed players avoids the ample trouble typically bordering the right side of the fairways; however, a power fade is simpler to control the distance and lands softer, thereby setting up straightforward approaches from more favorable lies to the severe, undulating putting surfaces that distinguish most of these magnificent and historical sites.
Seven Major Championships claimed on two outstanding golf courses are not an act of providence nor a fluke but a blending of talent, skill, fortitude, and courage under exceedingly trying circumstances at the perfect moment in golf history.
The proper course for the best player at the right time under live playing conditions.
Brian Harman earned this major title by avoiding the diabolical bunkering that pot-marked the fairways of Hoylake, hitting only three bunkers all week and putting magnificently, never three-putting over the entire championship, making an astounding fifty-nine out of sixty putts from inside ten feet.
He claimed the lead on Friday morning after birding the third hole and never looked back, winning by six shots over Tom Kim, Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm, and Jason Day, who all tied for second.
Harman’s six-stroke victory matches the second largest in the Open History by American players; Tiger won by eight in 2000.
Harman, at thirty-six, becomes the oldest first-time Major Champion since Sergio Garcia won the Masters in 2017 and collects $3 million for winning his first major and third overall title in twelve years on tour.
He now has a five-year exemption into all the Majors.
He joins previous winners at Hoylake, including Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Bobby Jones, and Walter Hagen, a worthy group to be part of.
This victory also moves him to No 10 in the World Golf Rankings and No 3 in the American Ryder Cup standings, with the top six automatically qualifying for the matches in September.
Suppose history continues along its predictable path and follows historical expectations of rewarding Professional Golfers with left-hand persuasions who compete on specific courses in demanding situations.
In that case, Brian Harman’s ascension as the best southpaw in the world will not end with just one Major Championship.
Augusta National and the Masters is the next stop on destiny’s journey.
A golf course that
rewards thoroughbreds with outstanding pedigrees parading and prancing amongst the rolling hills of an Augusta National routing that favors a power fade moving the ball right-to-left off the tee and a golf tournament that has amply rewarded left-handed players in the past with remarkable success.
“Horses for Courses,” indeed.
At his Sunday night press conference, Harman remarked, “I’ve always believed that I could do something like this.”
“I have a great family, great hobbies, and a comfortable life; I would not want it to change in any way.”
History has a pathway of seeking those who least expect it.
While long and circuitous, Brian Hardman’s Road upward in professional golf is now optimistic and crystal straightforward, at least for the next five years.
He is now a Major Champion, with more golf courses to be played on and majors to compete in that favor his methodical execution, ball flight, and putting prowess.
Strong combinations that bode well for future success and more Championships.
I had the opportunity to sit in and listen to Brian Harman’s final Interview on Sunday night at Royal Liverpool.
Please listen to that interview here.
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