SAN ANTONIO — Get Brian Harman talking about the simpler times, when he was touring the country as an amateur, and he lights up.
For example, after the opening round of the Valero Texas Open, Harman was reminiscing about his epic victory at the 2007 Porter Cup in Lewiston, N.Y., when he blew away a field that included players like Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel and Jason Kokrak. Harman's nine-stroke victory was the greatest in the history of the storied event and it coincided with his switch to a belly putter a few weeks before.
He laughed as he recalled the win on Thursday, saying he'd been playing poorly most of that summer after his junior year at the University of Georgia. He'd been playing a side team game with Colt Knost and others all summer long and was struggling to make ends meet. But the win at the Niagara Falls Country Club changed all that.
"I won 10 grand that day," Harman said with a wide smile while signing autographs at TPC San Antonio. "That was a good day."
After an impressive 66 on Thursday, his best in 25 rounds at The Oaks course, Harman is in line to make a whole lot more if he maintains this pace. He was at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the early wave of players, and with winds and nasty weather expected to roll through the region getting the early edge was crucial.
For the record, the winner of the Valero Texas Open also earns $10,000. Well, plus $1.7 million.
On Thursday, Harman didn't do much differently than his previous rounds here, but he just rolled a few more putts in.
"I just drove it good, and made a few more putts than I've been making," Harman said. "My game's been feeling like it's been getting close, but just hadn't had any results, so nice to get off to a good start this week."
The three-time Tour winner and 2023 Open Champ has played well this season, he just hasn't been able to put together four solid rounds to get into contention. Harman has made the cut in seven of nine events and had a top-20 finish at the Genesis, but if he can eliminate that one round, it's likely he'll find his way back into a winner's circle soon enough. And he'd love for it to be in Texas, where he's always played well.
"It's just consistency and execution. Yeah, my good days have been good enough to win and my bad days have been not great," he said. "You've got to find a way on those days, and that's usually a strong part of my game is gritting it out, figuring out a way to get it done. So just patience and just executing a few more shots and see what happens.
"I love Texas, man. I love the people here, I love the state ... I love it out here, I love the weather. If I had to move anywhere, I'd move to Texas for sure."
Speaking of Texas, and specifically San Antonio, the Final Four is in town this weekend and two of the four teams from the SEC will be on hand. Since Harman is a proud UGA grad, will he be pulling for Florida and Auburn this weekend?
"Don't care, man. I hope they all lose."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Brian Harman off to fast start at Valero Texas ...
