[PHOTO: Jonathan Bachman]
Holding the lead after playing the third round of the Valero Texas Open in difficult conditions, Brian Harman was asked about the prospect of things being more challenging come the last day,
“Well, I doubt it’s going to be worse than today,” he said. Then added, “I think…”
As it turned out, Sunday in San Antonio was colder and windier but the big game hunter in Harman (he draws deer tracks on his golf ball as an identifying mark) persevered, overcoming a double-bogey at the ninth hole to win for the first time since his triumph at the 2023 Open Championship.
A crucial club for Harman all week was the lone non-Titleist stick in the bag – a TaylorMade Spider ZT – a putter with zero torque that Harman just put in play this week and was reluctant to talk about, saying little more than, “We’ll talk about that [on] Monday.”
In a case of speaking softly and wielding a hot flatstick, Harman ranked fifth in strokes gained/putting for the week, gaining more than five shots on the field, critical strokes in a week where single digits under par won the tournament.
Harman also ranked second in strokes gained/approach the green. For his irons, Harman employs an interesting setup with two Titleist U•500 utility irons for the 4 and 5-irons, Titleist’s T100 model for the 6-iron and Titleist’s 620 CB irons for the rest of the set with True Temper Dynamic Gold S300 steel shafts.
Not to be overlooked is Harman’s Titleist Pro V1 ball.
“I switched to this ball in 2017 from a different company and the effects were immediate,” he said in 2022. “I just was never able to flight my old ball. I had trouble controlling it and especially in the wind and we ended up playing so much wind out here. The effects for me were immediate switching to the Pro V1 and I mean, it’s been a complete 180. The way that I flight iron shots, the way that I control it around the green… I don’t know how many shots it’s saved me.”
At the Valero, in the Texas wind, it saved him enough to emerge the victor.
What Brian Harman had in the bag at the 2025 Valero Texas Open:
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Driver: Titleist TSi2 (Graphite Design Tour AD IZ 5S), 9 degrees
3-wood: Titleist TS2, 13.5 degrees
5-wood: Titleist TS2, 16.5 degrees
Irons (4-5): Titleist U•500; (6): Titleist T100; (7-PW): Titleist 620 CB
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (50, 54 degrees); Titleist Vokey SM10 (60 degrees)
Putter: TaylorMade Spider ZT
