Heroic Harman blows his pursuers away with impressive frontrunning performance at Royal Liverpool

Brian Harman cruised to Open Championship glory at a rainy Royal Liverpool last evening, the 110-1 outsider leaving most punters as gloomy as the Merseyside weather.

Much more fancied runners including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood were part of the chasing pack. All threatened to catch Harman early in the final round, but the seemingly fearless American left-hander turned into the Harmanator from the sixth tee onwards.

Having covered the first five holes in two over par, it seemed Harman might squander his five-shot overnight advantage  as his lead dwindled to just three. A birdie at the par-three sixth hole settled the frontrunner, though, and he blew his rivals away from there.

Harman started Sunday as a general 8-15 favourite but his backers were fretting as McIlroy covered the first five holes in three under par, then Rahm birdied the fifth to move into second place on his own. The Spaniard briefly went 3-1 for the Claret Jug before Harman's birdie at six sucked the life out of his pursuers.

The 36-year-old Georgia man followed up with another birdie at the seventh, then responded to a bogey at 13 with back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15. Harman teed off on the 18th hole with a six-shot lead, becoming a Major champion with a closing par, finishing the tournament at 13 under.

The Hoylake galleries were hoping that Southport man Tommy Fleetwood could take the title, but it was a frustrating day for his followers. After a birdie and 15 pars, Fleetwood capitulated at the 17th hole, pulling his tee shot left and racking up a triple-bogey six.

With the leader so far clear after three rounds, most bookmakers opened a market betting without Harman, and Rahm went into Sunday as 7-2 favourite. A birdie at the 18th hole meant Rahm tied for second place with Tom Kim, Sepp Straka and Jason Day.

As Harman strolled up the final hole, early-bird punters were busy snapping up fancy prices about the new Open champion winning the Masters in April. He was 200-1 for the Green Jacket as he holed out for his Open triumph. The little grinder has Augusta form figures of MC-44-12-MC-MC.

The FedEx Cup playoffs start in the middle of next month, then the Ryder Cup is at the end of September. Harman will have high hopes of featuring strongly in both after his Hoylake heroics.

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