Official PGA TOUR Essential Guide to Golf

To say Brian Harman loves the outdoors would be an understatement. Depending on the season, when he’s not playing on the PGA TOUR you can probably find Harman hunting ducks or wild turkeys or deer. He likes to fish, too, and life at home on St. Simon’s Island on the Georgia coast presents plenty of opportunities to get outdoors and do all of those things. Harman also marks his golf balls with dots that look like deer tracks. Shoot, he even proposed to his wife, Kelly, while they were turkey hunting – taping the engagement ring to her brand new camouflage pants. It’s a family thing. “I grew up hunting with my dad,” says Harman, who defends his title at the Wells Fargo Championship this week. “That’s how we spent time together. That’s how we still spend time together.” Harman’s favorite thing of all to do is bow hunt for deer. He uses a 31-inch Mathews Switchback compound bow made of carbon fiber and feels he can be accurate with it from 50 yards or so. “It’s more about getting in there close to them when you’re bow hunting,” Harman explains. “Paying attention to which way the wind’s blowing, stuff like that. It’s kind of a like chess game.” Deer tend to be most active in the morning and the late afternoon, he says. Harman has several favorite hunting spots where they have tree stands or blinds to wait for the deer. “Your aim has to be good,” he says. “You’ve got to be quiet. You have to know how to sit still. “It’s kind of a skill that’s been lost to my generation, being able to sit still and not be on your phone all day.” Harman killed a 163-inch, 13-point buck when he went hunting with fellow TOUR pro Kevin Kisner in Texas last year. The deer weighed about 180 pounds. Harman is not just killing for sport, though. He has a freezer full of deer meat, as well as ducks and the fish he’s caught. “We eat everything that we kill,” Harman says. “I’m not really a trophy hunter. I just like nature. And I like knowing where my food comes from, too.” Harman also likes cooking it – particularly when he’s settling down in front of the TV to watch his alma mater, Georgia, play football. His favorite cut is a shoulder roast. “I wrap it up in tinfoil with a bunch of different stuff and I stick in the oven at 210 for 10 or 11 hours,” he says. “It’s great for game days. It’s wake up in the morning, throw the shoulder in, it tastes just like pot roast. “Most of the other stuff turns into ground meat like chili, spaghetti. If I had a better place to age it would be like eating steaks, but I don’t have a good place to age it yet.” Harman says there are trail cameras in the areas where he hunts. The photos that are taken help Harman and his friends identify the older deer to track. “We take pictures during the summer and just try to pick out two or three that are old deer and we hunt those deer in particular,” he says. “We don’t kill young deer. … “Obviously, if we were solely hunting for food we’d be a little less selective. But that’s part of the sport of it. But we take care of it. We respect the stuff that we harvest.”

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Four of the biggest names in sports are going to play a charity golf match. Intrigued? Isn’t everyone? So what else do we know — about format, about social distancing rules, about venue? We go through what we know and what still needs resolution.

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Not everyone celebrates anniversaries, and not all anniversaries are worth celebrating, but the first anniversary always serves as an exercise in perspective. The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard was the last tournament completed before the pandemic that forced a three-month shutdown in 2020. Given everything that has happened and what we know now, that the hiatus lasted only three months is a remarkable achievement. The collaboration with local communities has been paramount in sustaining a safe and competitive environment. Yet, a break from how Bay Hill Club and Lodge tested last year presented an opportunity for a different kind of recovery. Scroll past the projected contenders for details of how extreme it played and why, what the limited field can expect this week and more. RELATED: The First Look | Inside the Field POWER RANKINGS: ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL The Fantasy Insider will be delayed until Wednesday. Notables reviewed will include Jordan Spieth, Max Homa, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama. Despite the circumstances that triggered the shutdown of 2020, those who attempted to tame Bay Hill needed a minute to lick their wounds. The stock par 72 averaged 74.106 for the week, and that included splits of 75.913 and 75.058 in the third and final rounds, respectively. It was the highest scoring average in relation to par on a par 72 in a non-major in the last four completed seasons. It also was the highest that Bay Hill averaged since it scored 75.150 as a par 71 in 1983, the first year that data was recorded in earnest. Arnold Palmer's primary objective was to have fun, but that was the furthest thing from it. Persistent gusty winds north of 20 mph throughout pummeled the field. It averaged just 9.1 greens in regulation per round, lowest of any non-major in 15 years. That seems like a misprint given that greens average a roomy 7,500 square feet, but they also run up to 13-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter with penalizing undulations, so precision on approach is at a premium. With nowhere to hide to swallow the pride, it's no wonder that Tyrrell Hatton's 4-under 284 was the highest winning aggregate in tournament history. He ranked outside the top 30 in both distance of all drives and fairways hit, but that's fine when the wind is a factor. The Englishman managed the rest of his game exquisitely, slotting T9 in GIR (10.5 per round), 10th in proximity, 15th in Strokes Gained: Putting and second in bogey avoidance. He also co-led the field in par-3 scoring and played the par 5s in 4.63 to rank T17. With that recap scaring everyone straight, a pivot to this week's forecast is relevant. After a relatively benign first two days with high temperatures in the mid-70s, things will turn for the worse after the 36-hole cut falls. There's a very good chance of rain on Saturday. With the threat, winds will freshen considerably and stick around for Sunday's finale when the sun returns. It might not reach 70 degrees on the weekend. The only notable modification since Hatton's victory was made on the tee at the par-4 13th hole. It's been expanded to allow for another 12 yards and can now extend to 382 yards. The entirety of that increase equals the overall bump in Bay Hill's overall length to 7,466, longest in tournament history. Wayward drives may find rough at three-and-a-half inches and longer. That helps explain why disrespecting the value of course management off the tee can lead to a bad day. As usual, the TifEagle bermuda greens have not been overseeded for the competition. The perks for winning mirror what Max Homa earned as the champion of The Genesis Invitational: 550 FedExCup points and three-year PGA TOUR membership exemption (or additional season if already exempt through 2023-24 or 2024-25). He also receives a three-year exemption into THE PLAYERS Championship. The field stands at 123 as of Monday afternoon. Former winners Robert Gamez (1990), Paul Goydos (1996) and Tim Herron (1999) are add-ons as champions pre-2000. If any withdraws before his opening round, he will not be replaced. ROB BOLTON'S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM's Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers WEDNESDAY: Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Watch * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM's Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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