Brian Harman received a hero’s welcome when he arrived home to McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport in Georgia on Friday.
Fellow major winner Davis Love III, PGA Tour pro and fellow Georgia alum Harris English and Harmon’s swing coach, Justin Parsons, were among more than 50 friends and fans that surprised The Champion Golfer of the Year upon his arrival.
“It’s so cool. It warms my heart seeing everyone here,” Harman told PGA Tour.com. “My wife played it off pretty good. I was thinking we would just scoot home and not see anybody, so I’m thrilled everyone came out. It’s really touching.”
Harman, who won for the first time in more than six years on Sunday and collected his first major championship, stepped off the plane holding his youngest of three children in his left arm and the Claret Jug, the famed trophy that the winner of the British Open is awarded custody for one year, in his right.
Harman hung around and posed for pictures, signed autographs and drank a Coors Light from the Claret Jug.
“There’s booze in there, sorry,” Harman said with a grin in a video posted to social media by the PGA Tour.
Young fans settled to touch the trophy.
The Champion Golfer of the Year has returned
@HarmanBrian was welcomed by friends and fans when he arrived home in Sea Island. pic.twitter.com/MmpMSY2q0d
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 28, 2023
Harman flew back to the U.S. early Monday morning following a celebration the night before at Hickory’s Smokehouse, not far from where he won the British Open at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. Harman met up with his wife and three kids, who watched his victory from her family’s home in the Syracuse, New York area.
“The last three or four days have been really nice,” he said. “We’ve been secluded up there by the lake. But it’s nice to get back and see a bunch of familiar faces and get to celebrate with them.”
Harman has called St. Simons Island, part of a chain of barrier islands nicknamed the Golden Isles, for most of his career. Based on his arrival home, the party is just beginning for Harman’s career-defining moment in this picturesque corner of southern Georgia—halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville, Fla.