Brian Harman will be drawing some inspiration from Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy as he enters this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
Harman enters the third and final leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs at 4 under, six strokes behind points leader Scottie Scheffler. It’s the exact same position McIlroy found himself in last year, and with Scheffler in the lead, McIlroy stormed back to be crowned champion.
Although it’s been done before, Harman knows mounting a comeback will be a tall task.
“I’m six shots back of a really incredible player, so I’m going to have to probably play my best golf of the year to have a chance,” Harman said. “I think I have a chance to play my best golf of the year. My chances are as good as anybody’s.
“But starting six shots back, it’s a steep hill to climb for sure, especially on a place like this where there’s a lot of longer par-4s to where you’re playing for par a lot. So to try to make up ground can be really tough around here.”
Harman opened the playoffs by tying for 31st at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tenn., before finishing T5 at last week’s BMW Championship in Olympia Fields, Ill. The top-10 result was a welcome finish for Harman, who admitted that he wasn’t at his best to open the postseason.
“I spent two weeks at home. I think I went and practiced maybe one day, two days,” Harman said of how he spent his time prior to St. Jude. “I was kind of taking a victory lap and doing some partying and seeing some friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. So I soaked all that in.
“I hated that I wasn’t in form when I showed up to Memphis, but I kind of knew that I wasn’t. So I kind of had to use Memphis to get reps that I would have normally gotten the week prior.”
By the time the BMW Championship rolled around, this week’s event was certainly at the back of Harman’s mind.
“It’s not that I’m testing stuff in the golf tournament, but I’m fully aware that I’m not all there as far as my game,” Harman said. “It was a little closer last week. I putted well, chipped well last week. I had a couple good days of ball striking, so if I can keep building on that, that will be the goal this week.”
Max Homa, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark and Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick also sit at 4 under entering the Tour Championship. Should Harman be the one that pulls away from the pack and does complete the comeback, he already knows how he’s going to use the first-place money.
“College funds,” Harman said. “Always splurge it on college funds.”
–Field Level Media