Open champion unleashes surprise club smash… after perfect shot

With the likes of Rory McIlroy, eventual winner Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry teeing it up at the 2025 DP World India Championship, another PGA Tour star in the field flew under the radar: Brian Harman.

But the 2023 Open champion is receiving plenty of attention after the tournament. That’s because Harman uncharacteristically lost his cool and violently smashed a club in disgust during the final round… only to watch his ball end up right near the hole.

Harman contends at India Championship before Sunday swoon

Despite receiving second billing this week, Harman looked like he might win for much of it. At the halfway point, Harman had strung together a 68 and 65 to get to 11 under. That put him in a tie for second with Lowry, one shot behind Fleetwood with 36 holes to go.

But Harman, who won the 2025 Valero Texas Open in April for his first victory since the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, took a step back in Saturday’s third round.

Two bogeys and only four birdies left him with a 70, putting him four shots behind 54-hole leader Keita Nakajima.

The biggest change on Harman’s scorecard from the first two rounds came at the par-5 1st hole. Harman birdied the narrow, tree-lined hole on Thursday and Friday. But on Saturday, Harman was forced to hit three tee shots at the 1st. He hit his first tee shot into the trees. When his provisional tee shot also found the trees, a mad search ensued.

Eventually, Harman found both balls. So he took an unplayable on the first ball, then zipped back to the tee on a golf cart to hit a third tee shot. Somehow, he came away with a bogey-6.

On Sunday, it would get worse.

Brian Harman sticks tee shot, smashes club in disgust

Four shots back to start the final round, Harman still had a chance to pull off a come-from-behind victory. But only if he went low early and often.

Unfortunately, those chances blew up at the 1st hole, where Harman hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker, then his second shot into the bushes to incur another penalty. A double-bogey 7 was the result.

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GOLF Editors

Harman is known for his calm demeanor, rarely letting positive of negative emotions overtake him on the course. But the frustration from the 1st hole eventually boiled over on the par-3 5th.

The 161-yard 5th requires another careful tee shot through a gauntlet of trees beyond the tee. Making matters nervier on Sunday was a difficult pin cut close to the front of a tilting green. A bad tee ball could easily lead to a big number.

One over on the day and well off the lead, Harman chose his iron, stepped up and took a swipe at his ball.

In a video of the shot, Harman momentarily holds his finish, but then turns and violently tomahawks his iron into the ground, sending the club bouncing across the tee box.

A TV analyst can be heard saying, “I’ve never seen him do that before.”

Harman was apparently convinced that he’d hit another squirrelly tee shot. But he was wrong. Very wrong. Just after Harman smashed his iron, the camera cut to his ball, catching the end of its flight as it crashed down on the green, coming to rest 6’10” from the pin.

Check it out below.

In fact, it was Harman’s best shot on the hole all week. He hit it to 36 feet at in the 5th in Round 1, 18 feet in Round 2 and 23 feet in Round 3.

But Harman couldn’t sink his short birdie chance, settling for a par. He would trade three birdies for four bogeys the rest of the way, eventually signing for a two-over 74. His Sunday struggles dropped him into a T26-finish, 11 shots behind Fleetwood.

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