Media Center Interviews
April 6, 2025
Final Round Interview with Brian Harman
MODERATOR: We would like to welcome the champion of the 2025 Valero Texas Open, Brian Harman, to the media center here.
Brian, could we just get some opening thoughts? Fourth career win on the PGA TOUR.
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I had to wait a long time in between my second and third, didn't have to wait quite as long this time. Been playing some really good golf. My scores haven't showed it, but I've been feeling like it was right there. To have it pop this week and be in good form for some big stuff coming up is really awesome.
MODERATOR: Three over today
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, right.
MODERATOR: not how you envisioned it. Can we get a look into your mentality today and grinding (inaudible)?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, just having a little bit of experience and knowing that score was kind of a relative thing today, it was more kind of a game of attrition. The conditions just wouldn't allow for a super low score. I didn't have my best stuff today, but good enough to make a few putts, and a couple birdies on the back nine helped a lot.
Q. Congratulations on your return to the winner's circle. Novak made it a tight match after hole 5. Tell me a little bit about what was going through your head in that moment as you felt him inching forward.
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, he hit some great shots, hit great shots all day. He struggled a little bit coming down the stretch. Yeah, you kind of halfway through the day I figured that he was the one guy that I really needed to focus on and try and beat.
Just felt like if I could just hang in there, I knew I was going to hit some good shots at some point, just make a couple putts and just hoping that was going to be good enough.
Q. You mentioned it was really tough out there, battle of attrition, just trying to overcome the elements. When you have to shift your mind to that type of mentality where you have to grind it out, would you just explain what that's like to kind of change your focus?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, it's really hard. Especially the first two days I was playing such good golf, just aiming at everything and making a ton of putts and having a lot of fun. Then all of a sudden the weather flips, and not only the weather flips but the wind's coming from a totally different direction. I was actually looking at the scoreboard on 18, my day 1 drive's 330, day two drive 320, day three 255, day four 248 or whatever it was.
It's a completely different golf course. Having a little bit of experience around here, like I talked about, I've seen this place play really hard, and just knowing that there wasn't going to be a low score out there today.
Q. Brian, you mentioned earlier in the week that you maybe took a little bit of too much time off after the Presidents Cup and that your game wasn't where you wanted it to be coming into the season. Are you back now? Is your game back to where you want it to be or do you still have a ways to go?
BRIAN HARMAN: Obviously this week went great. There's still some stuff that I haven't been driving it quite as well as I'd like to when you're thinking about trying to win majors and stuff like that, but super pleased with the way I played this week. Really putted well, which is something that's been missing a little bit the last year or so, just haven't been making like those midrange putts. Hitting good iron shots in, you end up with 10 to 20 feet a lot, just haven't been making a lot of those and putted those really nice this week.
Q. You mentioned that it wasn't your best stuff today. What did today teach you when you don't have your fastball so to speak?
BRIAN HARMAN: Well, I've had to learn that lesson the hard way with a bunch of failures across my career where you look back at a tournament, like gosh, if I could have just kept my cool for a little bit longer, if I could have just hung in there for a little bit longer, maybe I could have made a run.
So I just tried really hard today to not let my emotions get out in front. As much as I wanted to think about winning and holding the trophy and calling my wife and telling her how happy I was, you don't get to do that until the job's done. Just left foot, right foot, finish the job and then you get to have fun.
Q. Brian, I don't know if it's too early to reflect, but biggest moment of the tournament?
BRIAN HARMAN: I actually think making double on 9. I hit it way right, bad tee shot, had to take an unplayable. I chip it out, now I've got a 6iron into the wind with a pin in the back, so getting that one up and in in three shots, it kept me from having a total disaster. Everyone's going to make a double here or there around this place. That, and then made a really nice putt on 12. No. 12 is when my round sort of flipped a little bit. I made it's a hard hole, hit a 6iron in there, made a nice putt. That put me up two maybe, so I started feeling pretty good after that.
Q. You're right, it did put you up to two. I wanted to ask you about that birdie on 12, what did that do? Did that calm you, did that embolden you? What did it do for you?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, a little bit of everything. Anytime you can make a putt, especially because Novak hit it in there pretty close so looking like maybe he's going to there's a chance we're going to walk off that hole tied and I ended up walking off with a twoshot lead. Probably the biggest hole of the day there.
Q. I also wanted to ask you, last one here, is there a story behind your putter?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I changed putters this week. Like I said, I looked at my stats from last year and I probably had the best iron game of my career, approach to the green, and probably my worst year from 10 to 20 feet putting. So still really good inside 10 feet, but that section there is where I was getting all my looks and I wasn't making any of them. I had toyed with the idea of switching putters for a while. Picked that one up on Tuesday this week, it felt really good and it rolls nice, just kind of freed me up a little bit.
Q. What make and model is it?
BRIAN HARMAN: It's a TaylorMade of some sort. I'm not sure what all the letters and numbers on the bottom of it are, but it's good.
Q. When you say you picked it up, where did you pick it up?
BRIAN HARMAN: A putter rep just handed it to me and said try this one.
Q. Steve Sands was joking with you on the green in the postround interview that you've been eyeing those cowboy boots. How's it feel to get a pair of those in your possession? You mentioned they're maybe a little too big?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I wear cowboy boots a fair amount at home, so it'll be a nice addition to the collection I have. I'll be really proud of them.
Q. And cowboy boots are one thing, but one very coveted piece of clothing is up for grabs next week in the game of golf, and that is the green jacket. How do you feel about the state of your game heading into Augusta?
BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, just knowing that there's some good golf left in there. You know, I'm 38, I'm not 25 anymore. I know that I'm getting, you know, a little grayer, so you start looking at like, man, how many more chances do I have at Augusta, how many more chances do I have at a U.S. Open, and all the things that you want to do. Just knowing I can come out here in tough conditions and play well as an older veteran on Tour makes me feel good about next week.
Q. Does winning the start before Augusta change anything about how you approach next week? Do you try to take more rest mentally, try to take a step back mentally just to make sure you're all systems go for Thursday?
BRIAN HARMAN: I think Augusta has a way of snapping you right back into reality, that course can be such a challenge. I actually think this is a really great warmup not to diminish this golf tournament at all, this is a very incredible golf tournament, hard one to win, but this is a great warmup for Augusta. Augusta gets tricky winds, Augusta has pins that are perched up on top of spots just like they are around here.
For me, I took a couple years off of this golf tournament and then when I came back and it's beautifully overseeded, like man, this is about as good of prep as you can get for Augusta.
MODERATOR: Brian, congratulations.
BRIAN HARMAN: Thank you. Thank you all, appreciate it.
