Everyone tries to catch Brian Harman on moving day.
After his 6-under performance Friday at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, Harman built up a whopping five shot lead. That put him 10-under at halftime in the British Open and put him in an excellent position to win his first major championship of his career.
According to Golf Digest’s Shane Ryan, only 12 players in history have had a 36-hole lead of exactly five shots in a 72-hole major championship. Of those 12 golfers, 10 have won – most recently with Scottie Scheffler at last year’s Masters. The only two to screw up were Bobby Clampett at the 1982 British Open and Henry Cooper at the 1936 Masters. Harman also has the largest 36-hole lead of any player in the 13 games the British Open has been played at Royal Liverpool.
Tommy Fleetwood is alone in second place with 5-under this week. He hit an even par 71 on Friday after holding part of the lead for 18 holes. Sepp Straka is alone in third at 4 under, and Min Woo Lee, Shubhankar Sharma and Jason Day are tied at 3 under.
Jordan Spieth is perhaps the biggest name within striking distance. The former British Open champion is 2-under this week. Rory McIlroy, who won the Genesis Scottish Open last week, is 1-under. McIlroy’s last major championship win came in 2014 when the British Open was last staged at the Royal Liverpool.
A victory for Harman is by no means assured. There are still two days to play golf. But it will be a big step by someone to at least partially close the gap ahead of Sunday’s finals. That’s what Moving Day is for.
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Brian Harman dropped to 10 under on Friday, giving him a huge five-stroke lead over the rest of the field with 36 holes to go at the British Open. (AP/Jon Super)