Lefty Brian Harman adds major experience to his Masters equation

The Masters has been won by a left-handed golfer six times since 2003. Mike Weir of Canada broke the seal, Phil Mickelson earned three green jackets and Bubba Watson won twice.

Common wisdom holds that several holes at Augusta National set up better for lefties than righties, whether off the tee or into the green. Brian Harman is one of five southpaws hoping to take advantage of those holes this week, joining Weir, Mickelson, Watson and Akshay Bhatia.

"Yeah, lefties have done pretty well around here," Harman said Tuesday at his pre-tournament press conference. "I think the conditions kind of have to go in my favor."

Harman hasn't taken full advantage in his five previous Masters starts, with three missed cuts and a T44 sandwiching his T12 finish in 2021. But the 37-year-old now has a major win under his belt, something he hadn't had before.

The last time a men's major championship was played, Harman sailed to a six-shot victory over the field at the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. The crowd was strongly in favor of Englishman Tommy Fleetwood and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, to the point of heckling and jeering when Harman walked to a tee, but the experience helped steel Harman.

"You get enough of those kind of 'take that' moments, where it's like it helps you build confidence," Harman said. "Because if you can go through that gauntlet and then execute a golf shot, it's like well all I have to do is go through my routine and execute this. You know, nothing else matters. So that was almost like a calming sensation there."

A Masters victory would come with extra meaning to Harman, a Georgia native and University of Georgia alumnus.

"A good friend of mine that introduced me to duck hunting brought me here the first time when I was 14 years old, I believe, and we played 18 holes," Harman said. "So I've been very familiar with this place for a very long time. It's a special place."

Harman isn't the longest driver of the ball, but Augusta -- which will measure 7,555 yards this year -- does not faze him.

"The (2017) U.S. Open I had a chance to win was the longest one in U.S. Open history. So the length doesn't scare me," said Harman, a runner-up that year to Brooks Koepka at 7,741-yard Erin Hills. "I've just got to prepare myself. It's evolved into a really hard golf course. It's just one of those things where you want to fast-forward and be on the back nine Sunday making lots of birdies.

"But there's a lot that happens in between teeing off Thursday and that back nine. And it's a very challenging course, and there's a lot of places that are really frustrating. And the guy that handles that the best usually is pretty up there."