Brian Harman climbs 17 spots to clinch projected automatic spot on the Ryder Cup U.S. Team
Brian Harman won his first-ever major on Sunday. The golfer, who now has three total wins on the PGA Tour under his belt, won by a whopping six strokes at the Open Championship. It was a monumental occasion but it might not be the only good thing to come out of the major.
Per the PGA Tour, Harman shot up the leaderboard for the Ryder Cup. The US vs. Europe golf tournament has six automatic qualifiers based on points and performance. The other six team spots are selected by the captain.
After his victory, Harman shot up the golf leaderboard. He rose 17 spots, which is an almost unheard-of jump. Regardless, he's now in prime position to earn one of those final qualifying spots.
Making moves toward @RyderCup 📈
@HarmanBrian vaults up 17 spots to move into a projected automatic qualifying spot for the U.S. Team. pic.twitter.com/FdWacFwIzt
Despite the surprising win and ascension on the leaderboard, US captain Zach Johnson said via SBNation that he wasn't shocked to see any of it:
"What is transpiring this week, I would even say last week, and the last couple tournaments he's played, it does not surprise me in the least. He hits it a little further. He’s gritty. He’s got a great ensemble of coaches and a team. What I’ve seen — it’s three days, but what I’ve seen so far in three days has not surprised me.”
He continued:
"He is a very formidable competitor, number one. Number two, what does Brian Harman do really well? Well, he does everything quite well. He's a very good driver of the golf ball and a very, very, very good putter. Then if everything else is good, then it can be pretty lethal."
Since he'd be an automatic bid, it doesn't matter all that much but it is clear that Johnson is a fan. If he somehow falls out of contention, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Johnson use one of his six selections to the team.
Brian Harman's win not a surprise to Chris Haack
Brian Harman shocked the world with a surprisingly comfortable win at Royal Liverpool during the Open Championship. The win wasn't a surprise to Chris Haack, his former coach at the University of Georgia.
Haack said via ESPN:
"He had such a great pedigree. He was always a great player and very competitive. But I think the one thing that has eluded him was just getting to the winner's circle probably a lot more times than he would have liked. He's certainly put himself in contention with all those top-10s."
He continued:
"This is more of what I thought I might see at some point. I think as he has gotten older and wiser, he is probably playing smarter and seemed to have a good game plan all week."
The golf coach could only watch from afar as his former protege went after a historic victory. From his perspective, this was an expected outcome. For Harman, it was a long time coming and it might have completely changed the trajectory of his young career.