Defending champion Brian Harman excludes other Majors to name The Open as his “favorite golf tournament”

Brian Harman is the defending champion at The Open Championship, which is his only Major title to date. He ignored the other big tournaments to call the British Major his favorite.

Before he defends his crown this weekend, the veteran golfer got a chance to speak with the media on a wide variety of things.

Harman was specifically asked how the 2023 victory changed his perspective, but he insisted he'd always loved The Open:

"Well, this has always been my favorite golf tournament. I love coming here. I think it's the purest, hardest, fairest form of golf that we play. I enjoy the challenge of it. I feel like if you play well here, you get rewarded. Bad shots get penalized, and usually, the guy that's playing the best golf is the guy that wins the golf tournament. That's all you can hope for."

Harman was then asked what allowed him to play so well and win last year. He defeated Sepp Straka by six points. He "dusted the field" as golf reporter Taylor Zarzour put it when he asked. The golfer said he drove the ball extremely well, but that he also made the putts he needed to.

With good work off the tee and reliable putting, he earned a dominant win. Harman said he felt like his game was in good shape this year, similar to last year. That gives him a very good chance to defend his crown and become a two-time Major winner.

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Brian Harman opens up on title defense

Brian Harman will try to defend his Open Championship crown and win a Major for the second time ever this weekend. He has his work cut out for him, as the field is stacked and Royal Troon can be a challenging venue.

As far as motivation, he noted some hostility by the fans last year and it spurred him on to victory. He said at the time via Golfweek that they should have been nice if they wanted him to play poorly.

This year, he's ready for any negativity and ready to turn that into motivation to win once again. He told the media:

“It doesn’t bother me. I’m ready to take whatever in stride. I’m here to play the best golf that I possibly can. That’s my main focus. I’ve always loved the fans over here. I’ve spoken a bunch of times about how I find them the most knowledgeable fans of any that we play in front of. I kind of chalk last year up as more of an anomaly than anything else.”

Whether or not any external motivation is needed remains to be seen. Harman and the rest of the field will tee off Thursday morning.