Brian Harman battles back from horrible Masters start

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The only thing Brian Harman was thinking when he walked to the fifth tee of the Augusta National Golf Club at 10-over par during the second round of the Masters Tournament on April 10 was that he could put his dreams of winning on the back burner for another year.

"I was frustrated that my golf tournament was pretty much over," said the St. Simons Island, Ga., resident and former University of Georgia player who was making his 400th career PGA Tour start this week.

But that never meant he wouldn't keep plugging away. Harman may not be able to win, but he won't back down.

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Beginning with a tap-in birdie at No. 5 in the second round, Harman has toured his last 32 holes at 11-under par and with a career-best Augusta round of 67 on April 11, he completed a long journey back to red numbers at 1-under 215.

Harman was tied for 29th at the time he finished, jumping 16 spots from a tie for 47th to start the round.

Brian Harman overcomes opening 79

Harman had the highest first-round score of any of the 54 players who made the cut and was the seventh player since 2007 to shoot 79 in the first round and survive to the weekend. The best finish among those players was Sandy Lyle in 2007, who recovered to finish solo 43rd.

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Mark Hensby posted an 80 in the first round of the 2006 tournament, shot 67 in the second round and 70 in the third round. He then had a closing 74 and tied for 22nd.

Harman's journey to the cut line was in doubt until No. 18

Through four holes in the second round, Harman was just trying to keep from embarrassing himself. As if his 79 in the first round wasn't bad enough (he had seven bogeys and a double after opening with two birdies in a row), Harman bogeyed No. 1 in the second round, then doubled the par-3 fourth hole when he hit his tee shot into an unplayable lie in the trees on the right of the green.

But he nearly holed his second shot at No. 5, catching the slope feeding to the hole perfectly, kicking off a stretch of four birdies in a row. The streak was capped when he drained a 27-foot birdie putt at No. 8.

After hitting into the water at No. 11 and making a bogey, Harman played his last seven holes at 3-under with no bogeys to make the cut on the number.

It was on a razor's edge until the end. Harman got up and down from the right greenside bunker at No. 18 when he played the ball to catch the back slope. It trickled to within 6 feet and he made the nervy par putt to live and fight another day.

Brian Harman of St. Simons Island, Ga., unleashes his tee shot at the par-4 11th hole at the Augusta National Golf Club on April 11 during the third round of the Masters Tournament.

Harman kept his ball in play

Harman came out swinging in the third round on a warm and sunny Georgia day. He birdied three of his first six holes, highlighted by a 40-foot birdie putt at No. 4, the hole he doubled the day before, then came back from a bogey at No. 7 to birdie Nos. 8, 14 and 17, with no additional blemishes on the card.

It could have been a lot lower. He failed to birdie either par-5 hole on the second nine and missed a 15-foot birdie attempt at No. 18.

Harman hit his last nine fairways and his last 11 greens. He hit 12 fairways and 14 greens for the day.

"Played some nice golf today, he said.

Harman: 'It's always around the corner'

Harman said he's played golf long enough to know there's a fine line between a good day and a bad day.

"I believe in myself," he said. "I know it's always just right around the corner. It's hard to keep telling yourself that sometimes when you haven't seen a lot of evidence, but I've got 15 years to show you that right around the corner is pretty good."

Harman admits he can't win in the final round. But the scrappy left-hander will battle for every shot he can.

"I'm trying to shoot the best score I can," said the 2023 British Open winner. "I shot myself out of the golf tournament the first day, unfortunately. It's nice to see a couple of good rounds around here. You know, this place has always kind of miffed me a little bit. I come here, prepare, and I can shoot some low scores, and feel like I can contend. Then the golf tournament just kind of sneaks up on me."

Harman's best career finish in the Masters is a tie for 12th in 2021.

"Just trying to have another good one tomorrow and see if I can't catch lightning here one year," he said.

He's also trying to win the Georgia Bulldog Flight. Harman, Sepp Straka, Harris English and Russell Henley are the ex-Dawgs who made the cut. Henley was on a roll and finished 6-under, Straka is 2-under and English is 1-under.

"They're all friends of mine," he said. "I'm trying to beat everybody. Not just the guys from Georgia."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Brian Harman's career-best 67 at the Masters continues rally from bad start