Harman makes his move | The 153. Open

His most recent victory on the PGA tour, the Valero Texas Open in April, came when the temperatures were hardly in two figures and in his words a “game of wear” became.

And when he won the open, it was a weekend with rains on Merseyside. Harman was certainly in the clubhouse and the lead when the sky was opened in County Antrim on Friday afternoon, but he is a man who was equipped with the game when the elements turn against him while he is twice to beat for lightning.

“I will approach the weekend in the same way,” added Harman to look for a “big steak” between the rounds.

“The only thing I am really worried about is the first T -shirt tomorrow, and then I will try to meet the next there near the flag. If not, go to the second hole. It is a very boring approach that I follow.

“I'm not trying to be heroic or doing something crazy. I know that I have the game to do it, and it's just about performing and staying in my own head.”

Things can change in the open immediately and Harman does not expect that the parallels to Royal Liverpool will continue indefinitely.

He led five shots two years ago in this phase and had a comfortable advantage almost everywhere, but the ranking is more condensed this time.

“I would like to have a similar weekend and just play all the way great,” he said.

“There will be challenges. This is a hard golf course. The pens were in really, really hard places, and they really have to remember it.

“Inevitably you will do a few shots wrong and end up in places in which you don't want to be, and the way you avoid the result.

“But every time you have disputes and have the chance to win, we all worked for our whole life. You don't get as many ways to do this.”

Another Friday 65. Another advantage of the clubhouse. Another clear jug?