Weekend Review: Harman brings the heat at rain-lashed Royal Liverpool as Claret Jug heads stateside

Brian Harman won his first major title after his six-shot victory at the Open Championship to take home the Claret Jug in a major win for the bookies.

The 110/1 shot, who is ranked 26^th in the world, held off the challenge of John Ram and Rory McIlroy at a rain-soaked Royal Liverpool.

The American finished 13 under, streets ahead of Rahm, Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day on seven under, as he managed a couple of slip ups but steadied the ship before powering on.

Bogeys on the second and fifth holes were followed up by successive birdies on the sixth and seventh as he became just the third left-hander to win the Claret Jug after Bob Charles in 1963 and Phil Mickelson in 2013.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said: “Brian Harman took his maiden major in imperious form at Royal Liverpool, the event looking largely over as a contest fairly early in his final round as the form and confidence remained rock solid.

“Having not won since 2017, he wasn’t high on a lot of people’s minds for the win and with a few surprises in behind as well for each way backers, overall, it was a great result for us.”

Bet365’s Steve Freeth walked EGR through the Georgia native’s performance.

He said: “Brian Harman may have started at 110/1 but we had a number of three-figure bets at that three-figure price and the biggest he touched was 125/1 in-play before starting the final round at 8/15. With punters looking to bet against him, he did lengthen to 10/11 after a wobble, but the left-hander kept his nerve to collect the Claret Jug.

“The well-backed Rory McIlroy may have failed to land another major but our Super Boost (Evens to 6/4) of him finishing in the top 10 didn’t go unbacked. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though for the layers, we had several bogeys finish outside the frame.”

Staying with McIlroy, Sky Bet confirmed one of its most popular Request A Bet selections came through for more than 400 punters.

The Northern Irishman was 1000/1 to shoot 71, 70, 69 and 68 over the weekend, with one shrewd customer placing £20 on the selection.

Elsewhere in football, England (1/50) got off to a winning start at the Women’s World Cup after a less than comfortable 1-0 win over Haiti (55/1).

The Lionesses were far from firing on all cylinders and were given a reprieve by VAR after Haitian goalkeeper Kerly Theus was deemed to have encroached after saving Georgia Stanway’s penalty.

The Bayern Munich midfielder made no mistake with her second effort, with the only goal in the game enough to give England all three points.

Betfred’s Alan Firkins said: “I did a piece for radio on Friday and recall mentioning that England were 125/1 on to beat Haiti. Sarina Weigman’s side escaped with a victory in the end and could be counted a tad fortunate – but a win’s a win.

“Tougher tests will follow – let’s hope the Lionesses get acclimatised, and fast.”

Freeth said: “The Lionesses kicked off their World Cup campaign against unfancied Haiti, but they certainly didn’t play like 1/50 shots and with a number of goals expected it was the type of result that we always favour so you’ll hear no moans and groans from us about their disappointing showing.”

France’s (1/10) stalemate with Jamaica (17/1) and 2019 finalists the Netherlands (1/2) low-scoring win over Portugal (11/2) were also positive results for the book, according to Kindred’s Gill.

On England, he added: “At the World Cup, England kicked off their campaign with an effective if not overwhelming 1-0 win over Haiti, the low-scoring result leaving us a very healthy margin.”

Up at Old Trafford, the weather refused to play ball as England’s hopes of taking the Ashes to a fifth and final test were dashed as Australia retained the urn.

England had been in fine form with the bat but were always fighting a losing battle as the drizzle continued to waft over, at least in the eyes of the powers that be.

Freeth said: “Agony for England backers but they knew their fate by Sunday morning. An incredibly close betting heat before a ball was bowled on Wednesday, England 2/1, Draw 7/4, Australia 7/4, but by late afternoon of the first day the draw had drifted to 5/2. However, by 11am on Sunday it was 2/9 before shortening to 1/25 come 1.30pm and with that the chance of reclaiming the urn.”

BoyleSports head of sports trading Declan Kelleher added: “In Manchester the rain helped out layers with well-backed England running out of time in Old Trafford to get the final five wickets, ensuring that Australia drew the fourth test and retained the Ashes.”

Looking at the weekend’s horseracing action, it was a punter-friendly couple of days at Newbury and in the Irish Oaks.

Even-money favourite Relief Rally emerged victorious from the 20-runner field in the Super Sprint as Tom Marquand brushed off his Royal Ascot disappointment, while Savethelastdance ate up the ground to seal a stunning finish in the Irish Oaks.

Gill said: “At Newbury on Saturday, the Super Sprint went the way of well-backed even-money favourite Relief Rally, who pulled clear of the pack to win impressively by three lengths in a result which was very punter-friendly.

“The same could be said for the Irish Oaks at the Curragh, although Savethelastdance did it very differently, coming from a different parish to win by half a length having traded at 1000 in running. Ultimately, he got the job done though and once again punters pockets were lined.”

Over at bet365, four lucky punters secured £25,000 each after going six for six in the operator’s free-to-play predictor challenge.

Freeth noted: “Our Horses Challenge jackpot was claimed for the second time on Saturday with four players netting £25,000 each thanks to our bumper £100,000 top prize. Penny for their thoughts when their final selection, Savethelastdance, fell out the back of the TV before responding to Ryan Moore’s urgings to make it six out of six in our free-to-play game.”

Finally, Nathan Aspinall walked away with the Betfred World Matchplay title after a dominant performance in the darts showpiece final.

Firkins said: “In Blackpool, The Asp produced a scintillating display to take down the Betfred World Matchplay Darts.

“Nathan Aspinall reeled off 11 successive winning legs in an 18-6 demolition of Jonny Clayton on Sunday night. Astonishing checkouts were the order of the day, and in a tournament of massive shocks he produced a fittingly brilliant final flourish to take the Phil Taylor Trophy.”