Brian Harman shoots 66 in first round of BMW Championship
CARMEL, Ind. — Brian Harman has no idea what happened Monday at TPC Boston in his dreadful final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship.
His infant daughter, Cooper Marie, made him quickly forget about it.
Less than 72 hours after he swiftly tumbled from contention at TPC Boston with a final-round 77, Harman recovered his best form and shot 6-under-par 66 Thursday at Crooked Stick Golf Club to move to the first page of the leaderboard in the BMW Championship, the third leg of the season-ending FedExCup Playoffs.
Harman trails pace-setting Roberto Castro, who shot 65 and was one of many players who took advantage after storms delayed play for 3 hours, 31 minutes and softened the course. Reigning U.S. Open champ Dustin Johnson and Jason Dufner shot 67, while Chris Kirk was at 5 under through just nine holes. Adam Scott and Paul Casey were two of five players at 4 under and both were through 10 holes. World No. 1 and defending champion Jason Day shot 73.
More than half of the field did not finish the first round, which resumes Friday at 8 a.m. ET. The second round is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.
“Monday was really hard for me to swallow because I felt like that I was going to contend in that tournament,” said Harman, who started the final round at TPC Boston in second place, three shots behind, after rounds of 68-65-68 but wound up in a tie for 24th. “I felt really good, and I felt like the conditions were playing to my advantage. I felt like I was trying to outlast everybody. And I got killed by (high winds). I was very disappointed with that.
“You got to be able to put that kind of stuff behind you. I know that I’m playing well. Monday was very odd, because I felt great going into that round. I had had some trouble in some wind this year and years past, and I felt like my outlook and attitude was really good and I just didn’t play well. So I don’t really know where that came from, honestly.”
Well, Harman, whose lone PGA Tour title came in the 2014 John Deere Classic, left his sorrows in Beantown.
Basically, there was no time to sulk as he and his wife, Kelly, and 3-month-old Cooper Marie, had to pack up and head to Indiana immediately. And seeing his daughter washed away the memories of five bogeys and a double-bogey that day.
“I go home and she’s happy to see her dad, and we got over it quick,” said Harman, who beams whenever he talks of his family and shows pictures and video of his daughter.
Harman, who admits he’s not the most patient of men, has become more patient since he and Kelly welcomed Cooper Marie to the world June 8.
“It’s been a much smoother transition than I thought it was going to be,” Harman said of his first child. “So far. I should knock on wood. I’ve got a wonderful wife, she’s such a good mom and takes such good care of her, that I’m able to come out here and go to work and know that Cooper’s well taken care of. And I can come home and I’m the good guy when I come home … and she just gets to play with me.”
Harman’s finish in the Deutsche Bank Championship didn’t help his standing in the FedExCup Playoffs. He came into the BMW Championship in 57th place, with only the top 30 advancing to The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, the playoff finale in two weeks.
But his first round gives him hope again.
“I’m going to try to do the best I can. I don’t know if my game plan changes at all, because I feel like that, if I play well, I’ll be right there,” Harman said.
If not, he’ll always have home and Cooper Marie.