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Silvis, Ill. • Brian Harman admitted he felt the pressure.
The 27-year-old, in his third full season on the PGA Tour, hadn't been in the final twosome in the final round until Sunday. He held the lead entering the final round of the John Deere Classic, and looked at the scoreboard after hitting a poor shot into the eighth green.
"I saw the guys were playing well, so that's when I felt it, but I was able to hit three really good shots on No. 9 to birdie, and that kind of got me going," Harman said.
He kept going all the way to his first victory on the Tour, using three straight birdies down the stretch to hold off Zach Johnson by one stroke.
Harman had a 5-under 66 in the final round for a 22-under-262 total to earn $846,000 and the last exemption for next week's British Open. Johnson had the best round of the day at 7-under 64.
"It was very hard, probably one of the hardest things I've ever tried to do in my life," Harman said. "Just trying not to let your mind run wild is the hardest part out there."
Two years ago, Harman played with Johnson in a late pairing of the Deere that Johnson won, and learned a lot about how to handle the heat.
"I talked to Zach about it, and he felt I was trying to get out of his way a little too much and that I needed to stake my ground a little bit," Harman said.
He did so Sunday beginning on the par-5 second hole, sinking a 4-foot putt after a 223-yard approach. That jumped him to 19 under and set the tone. His bogey on No. 5 became only a momentary speed bump once he birdied No. 9. He led Johnson and Scott Brown by a stroke at the turn and was ahead by as many as three strokes after his final birdie, a 6-footer on No. 16.
Jhonattan Vegas had a 65 to finished tied for third with Jerry Kelly (66) at 265. Scott Brown (68) and Tim Clark (67) tied for fifth another shot back.
Three-time winner Steve Stricker fell off the pace set by Harman on the front nine, then fell off the leader board with a double-bogey on the par-3 12th. His approach ended up in high brush behind and below the green.
LPGA Tour
Mo Martin hit the best shot of her life, and it made her a major champion in the Women's British Open.
From the middle of the fairway on the par-5 18th hole at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, Martin ripped a 3-wood. The ball hit the middle of the pin and settled 6 feet away for an eagle.
An hour later, that turned out to be the winning shot for the 31-year-old American when Inbee Park and Shanshan Feng could not stay under par.
Senior Open
Colin Montgomerie won a three-hole playoff against Gene Sauers to win the U.S. Senior Open title at Oak Tree National in Edmond, Okla.
Both entered the playoff at 5 under. Montgomerie entered the third extra hole with a one-shot lead, then made a putt on No. 18 to par the hole and claim the win.
Sunday's scores
PGA-John Deere Classic
At TPC Deere Run
Silvis, Ill.
Purse • $4.7 million
Yardage • 7,268; Par • 71 (35-36)
Final
a-amateur
Brian Harmn $846,000 63-68-65-66262 -22
Zach Johnsn $507,600 63-67-69-64263 -21
Jerry Kelly $272,600 66-68-65-66265 -19
J. Vegas $272,600 69-68-63-65265 -19
Scott Brown $178,600 67-70-61-68266 -18
Tim Clark $178,600 72-63-64-67266 -18
Ryan Moore $141,588 66-67-67-68268 -16
Jordn Spieth $141,588 71-64-67-66268 -16
Bo Van Pelt $141,588 67-69-67-65268 -16
J. Wagner $141,588 66-65-69-68268 -16
S. Bowditch $112,800 64-67-70-68269 -15
Steve Strickr $112,800 68-65-64-72269 -15
Chad Cmpbll $80,571 69-71-62-68270 -14
Bryce Molder $80,571 73-65-67-65270 -14
Kevin Na $80,571 68-66-71-65270 -14
Shawn Stefni $80,571 73-67-64-66270 -14
D. Summrhys $80,571 69-68-65-68270 -14
David Toms $80,571 65-70-67-68270 -14
Brad Fritsch $80,571 70-68-63-69270 -14
Kevin Kisner $56,713 68-72-68-64272 -12
D.H. Lee $56,713 72-66-66-68272 -12
Troy Merritt $56,713 68-70-66-68272 -12
Charlie Beljan $43,240 71-68-66-68273 -11
C. Howell III $43,240 66-68-67-72273 -11
W. McGirt $43,240 64-66-69-74273 -11
John Rollins $43,240 72-68-66-67273 -11
Women's British Open
At Royal Birkdale Golf Club
Southport, England
Purse • $3 million
Yardage • 6,458; Par • 72
Final
a-amateur
Mo Martin $474,575 69-69-77-72287
Shanshan Feng $235,204 73-71-69-75288
Suzann Pettersen $235,204 72-73-68-75288
Inbee Park $151,532 72-72-68-77289
Jessica Korda $104,425 72-72-73-74291
Angela Stanford $104,425 74-72-70-75291
Eun-Hee Ji $104,425 74-70-71-76291
Julieta Granada $104,425 72-70-72-77291
Laura Davies $72,911 75-72-72-73292
Marina Alex $72,911 72-76-68-76292
Sun-Ju Ahn $72,911 75-67-71-79292
Anna Nordqvist $51,257 72-78-71-72293
Azahara Munoz $51,257 72-72-74-75293
Gwladys Nocera $51,257 73-70-73-77293
Charley Hull $51,257 73-76-66-78293
Stacy Lewis $51,257 71-74-70-78293
a-Emma Talley 72-73-76-73294
Beatriz Recari $39,530 74-67-74-79294
So Yeon Ryu $39,530 71-70-74-79294
Amelia Lewis $39,530 72-71-71-80294
Giulia Sergas $32,283 76-73-72-74295
Erina Hara $32,283 73-74-73-75295
Paula Creamer $32,283 75-73-71-76295
Morgan Pressel $32,283 70-74-75-76295
Meena Lee $32,283 73-75-70-77295
Amy Yang $32,283 71-72-72-80295
U.S. Senior Open
At Oak Tree National Golf Club
Edmond, Okla.
Purse • TBA ($2.6 million in 2013)
Yardage • 7,219; Par • 71
Final
x-won three hole aggregate; a-amateur
x-C. Montgmerie $630,000 65-71-74-69-279 -5
Gene Sauers $378,000 69-69-68-73-279 -5
David Frost $200,762 71-71-71-70-283 -1
Woody Austin $200,762 72-70-71-70-283 -1
Jeff Sluman $122,988 70-69-72-73-284 E
Vijay Singh $122,988 69-71-71-73-284 E
Marco Dawson $122,988 66-76-69-73-284 E
Kirk Triplett $97,907 69-72-75-69-285 +1
Joe Durant $79,080 71-73-75-67-286 +2
Peter Senior $79,080 73-73-68-72-286 +2
Scott Dunlap $79,080 69-68-72-77-286 +2
Bernhard Langer $79,080 69-69-71-77-286 +2
Mark Brooks $64,789 68-71-76-72-287 +3
Kenny Perry $51,796 75-74-72-67-288 +4
Lance Ten Broeck $51,796 70-69-79-70-288 +4
Tom Byrum $51,796 71-75-72-70-288 +4
Tom Kite $51,796 73-70-73-72-288 +4
Esteban Toledo $51,796 73-70-72-73-288 +4
Russ Cochran $51,796 70-74-71-73-288 +4
Duffy Waldorf $38,339 75-73-72-69-289 +5
Roger Chapman $38,339 79-70-71-69-289 +5
Steve Pate $38,339 72-72-75-70-289 +5
Loren Roberts $38,339 73-72-71-73-289 +5