HERO DUBAI DESERT CLASSIC

January 17, 2024

Brian Harman

Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club

Press Conference

CLARE BODEL: We welcome to the press centre Brian Harman.

Brian, your first time here at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. You arrived in from the U.S. last night. Played the Pro-Am today. What are your first thoughts of Emirates Golf Club?

BRIAN HARMAN: It's a demanding golf course. Basically today in the wind, the rough is up. It's really tough driving it around.

So yeah, trying to be as good of form as I can, and I'll see how the next four days go. The game is in okay shape. Had a good last couple weeks, so I'm very pleased, very excited to be here.

CLARE BODEL: How important is it for you, you obviously had an incredible summer in the U.K. last year, but how important is it for you to sort of play around the world to test your game elsewhere?

BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, it's been kind of the first opportunity in my career to broaden the horizons a little bit. So when I got this opportunity, I jumped on it. Really, really happy to come see a different part of the world, and it's beautiful.

Q. What does a man from the American south think of Dubai?

BRIAN HARMAN: It's a beautiful city. I mean, it's overwhelmingly big. I'll be excited to get a little closer in the daylight. Haven't seen it in the daylight yet. So we'll get out and check it out a little bit.

Q. I was curious how your body feels because jet-lag is something that pro golfers just have to deal with more than a lot of other pro athletes do.

BRIAN HARMAN: I feel okay right now. Check in in a few hours. I'm still up right. We'll be working in the right direction.

But yeah, I tried to stay kind of on the same sort of schedule. I didn't sleep much from -- I went from Honolulu to L.A., L.A. here, and I tried to stay up for as long as I could, and I think I'm doing all right. We'll see. I made it to the Pro-Am. Finished all the holes. So we're getting there.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about the game becoming more global going forward. Is that something you would embrace, and do you feel more of your compatriots are ready to do that? Is now the time to be taking those steps?

BRIAN HARMAN: I don't necessarily disagree with that at all. I think there's some golf-starved areas of the world, and I was just thinking about how cool it is, this game, how we can use it as like an avenue to go see places that you wouldn't otherwise get to see.

Like I said, this is really the first binge opportunity I've had during our normal tour schedule to take some time and go somewhere else, I'm very happy to do so.

Q. If you look at Americans over the years, who have made stayed at home is that because you've been spoiled by the events that are on your doorstep, the purses that are on your door September; that you've not needed to travel a bit more?

BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, you get into the same kind of routine of the places that you really like to go. You build your rest and your weeks off around those places that you like to go.

So just trying to fit it in, and maybe with our adjusted schedule of having a little bit more time off in the fall budgeted to rest, we might be able to make some more trips like this paragraph par like I said, I'm excited to be here. I can't speak for anyone else, but you know, this one worked out great.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about maybe going to a global schedule sometime in the future. Would you sort of embrace even more if you didn't have to do a 16-hour time difference and jet-lag if the sort of calendar fell where it was just short hops between events like this and the next big one before you returned to America?

BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I'm open to all those ideas. I think the more exposure that we can get across the globe, you know, like I show up here and the build-out here just blows you away.

There's a place for golf all over the place. So anywhere that's willing to spoil us like this, it's like they deserve to have a good field.

Q. And despite the jet-lag, have your own expectations sort of risen since The Open win in every tournament that you tee it up now?

BRIAN HARMAN: Well, the only expectations that I have are to try to get my game into the correct form. You can't really control what happens. You know, sometimes you're in good form, you don't make all the putts and you just get beat.

But the more times that you can be in form, in position, in contention, that's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to get in form to get in contention a little more often.

And you know, when you're not in form, you don't have the opportunity to win golf tournaments. And so I've probably taken -- I felt like my game wouldn't go -- we all have these lulls, right. You kind of peak and then it sort of falls off for a while. When my game falls off, it stays falling off for a little too long.

So I'm trying to get the system back and be able to get back to where it's supposed to be most often if that makes sense.

Q. I saw Justin Parsons just behind are. Has he been more than your coach this week? Has he told you what to see, where to go during this trip?

BRIAN HARMAN: Well, I just got in last night, so I'll be relying on him to be a tour guide as the week goes on. You spent ten years here? 13 years here. So he knows it. Walking around the golf course, he's like the mayor out there. Everybody knows him. So yeah, nice to have a tour guide like Justin.

Q. He has been a very important figure over here in Dubai growing the game and working with so many players. Can you just give us an appreciation of what he has been to you and the part that he has played in the big win that you had last year?

BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, so Justin and I, we've worked extremely hard. Justin likes to work. He likes to work hard. He's very demanding and that's something that I felt like I was missing on my -- in my outfit. Like when we spend our time together, it's very focused.

It's very -- it's a lot of fun for me because I feel like we always get things out of it. And so to have someone like that in your corner that's always there pushing you and making sure that you're doing the right stuff, it's like an extra layer of accountability. So for me, it's been fantastic.

Q. Your first thought of the golf course, you used the word "demanding." Adam Scott was in here, he used the word "demanding." Curious, what feels particularly "demanding" about this place, and if there's any course that you've played before that reminds you of this place?

BRIAN HARMAN: Yeah, I actually thought, it's kind of like Torrey Pines in the desert. Like very demanding -- I'll say it again. Demanding off the tee.

When I say "demanding," I mean like if you miss a shot, especially on some of the longer par 4s, there's not much of a recovery. You get into the rough, and it's like there's bunkers guarding the front of the green. Like I can't get the ball like up back into play to make birdie. I'm going to be hitting a third shot trying to make par.

So when I say "demanding," that's kind of what I mean. There's very little room for error off the tee because if you miss it, you're kind of out of the hole.

Q. Hate to bring back the word global again but for those of us who lived and spend most of our time outside America, the PGA TOUR has always been seen as the kind of road block towards that kind of happening. LIV has changed things. Do you think we would be having the conversations that we have been having with you and other people this morning without LIV Golf being involved?

BRIAN HARMAN: That's a good question. I don't have any perspective because LIV is here, and I am here, so I don't know. I'd have to think about that.

Q. Have things changed has the mood changed on the PGA TOUR in the midst of all of this? Is it more outward looking?

BRIAN HARMAN: Not really for me because I never really had a choice. Like I was a PGA TOUR player. There was no demand for me to go anywhere else. Like I didn't really have any opportunity to go play across the globe.

So yeah, like I said, when I got this opportunity, for me, it's like, wow, Dubai. I've always wanted to go. This makes total sense for me.

I don't know.

CLARE BODEL: Thank you so much for your time, Brian. Thank you.