Brian Harman explains passion for hunting amid sharp criticism during win at 2023 Open Championship

Brian Harman took home the Claret Jug as the winner of the 151st Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Sunday amid a weekend of criticism for his off-the-course activities.

Harman, an avid wild game hunter, faced questions from the British media both before and after his win concerning his favorite hobby. Those interactions prompted Golf Digest to repost an interview with Harman from 2014, in which the 36-year-old explained his love for wild game hunting.

“I’m a big outdoorsman,” Harman said. “I love hunting, my brother and I do a lot of turkey hunting… Love to deer hunt, I do a lot of bow hunting, we duck hunt. I killed the biggest deer of my life two years ago. For me, I don’t shoot deer that aren’t mature. A deer’s life is that they live about seven or eight years, so most deer die when they’re 5 1/2 to 6 years old, so for me I’m trying to shoot a deer once he gets to four, once he gets to four and a half, I’ll shoot him.

“A lot of people say it’s cruel to kill an animal, but for me instead of depending on a grocery store — I enjoy eating meat — instead of depending on a grocery store, I go and I kill an animal that’s been roaming free its entire life and is about to die anyway. And I butcher it myself, I take care of all the meat myself and then I eat it or I give it to someone to eat or I cook it for someone else to eat.

“So for me, it’s the ultimate respect for our position on the food chain, you know what I mean? And venison is so good for you.”

Brian Harman dominates Open Championship to win 1st-career major

In addition to being a skilled hunter, Harman is very good at golf, as evident from his performance this weekend in Merseyside. Harman posted a 1-under 70 in the Final Round to win the first major of his career.

Harman kept it steady through the rain as the field of competitors, including past major champions Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, as well as fellow University of Georgia alum Sepp Straka and Jason Day among others, failed to make up much ground. He finished 13-under par for the tournament, six shots ahead of Rahm, Straka, Day and Tom Kim. Harman became the first player since Henry Cotton in 1934 to lead by at least five shots after each of the final three rounds at The Open Championship, per ESPN Stats & Info. His six-stroke margin of victory is the second largest in Open Championship history (Tiger Woods, 8 at St. Andrews in Scotland in 2000).

In addition to being his first-ever win in a major, it’s Harman’s first overall win since the Wells Fargo Championship in May 2017. Harman is just the fifth left-handed golfer to win a major. He joins Sir Bob Charles, Mike Weir, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson.

“Just overwhelming joy,” Harman told Mike Tirico of NBC Sports. “… Cool as it gets. This is the best tournament in the world. Absolutely thrilled.”