{"id":434993,"date":"2025-06-01T01:29:04","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T01:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=434993"},"modified":"2025-06-01T01:29:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T01:29:04","slug":"brian-harmans-triumph-turns-tragic-amid-nbc-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/brian-harmans-triumph-turns-tragic-amid-nbc-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Harman\u2019s Triumph Turns Tragic Amid NBC Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Harman achieved one of the biggest moments of his career when he won the 2023 Open Championship<\/a> at Royal Liverpool. The 38-year-old put in some excellent performances to beat the rest of the field by six strokes. This was a performance that should have been remembered for Harman’s incredible skill and focus. But instead, he became embroiled in a controversy due to his pre-shot routine, and Harman has now revealed how he was \u201cdone dirty\u201d by NBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaggle Video\u201d Left Herman Dismayed<\/h2>\n

Harman’s routine involves multiple waggles of the club before taking a shot. The American developed the habit in order to manage on-course anxiety. Harman\u2019s unique waggle involved 12 driver movements before each swing. This attracted criticism from fans and broadcasters, and NBC even aired a video that pointed out this habit. Fans and critics criticized the video, much to the golfer\u2019s dismay.<\/p>\n

In an appearance on the NotSam podcast, Harman expressed his frustration and stated that NBC should have focused on his performance instead of his routine. He added that the network wanted to add drama to the tournament by scrutinizing his behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did me so dirty\u2026,\u201d Harman said<\/a>. \u201cThey\u2019re like, \u2018Well, let\u2019s just make him look like an a*******, instead.\u2019 Biggest tournament of my life!\u201d<\/p>\n

Harman further explained that his waggle routine was a coping mechanism developed under the intense pressure of major tournaments. He noted that he had worked diligently to refine his routine to enhance both his performance and the viewing experience. Despite the success of his routine in improving the accuracy of his drives, Harman believes the broadcast company failed to acknowledge his improvements.<\/p>\n

Debate Over NBC’s Broadcast of Harman’s Waggle Video<\/h2>\n

Harman’s revelation about how he felt about the broadcast in 2023 has sparked discussions about the balance between entertainment and respectful coverage in sports broadcasting. While broadcasters aim to engage audiences, many fans stressed the importance of considering the impact of their content on athletes’ reputations and mental well-being.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Savannah native Brian Harman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 38-year-old secured a hard-fought victory at the 2025 Valero Texas Open<\/a> last month after overcoming challenging weather conditions and personal heartbreak. He finished at 9-under par, three strokes ahead of runner-up Ryan Gerard, marking his fourth PGA Tour win and first since the 2023 Open Championship.<\/p>\n

The triumph was bittersweet for Harman, who has battled on-course anxiety for years, as he dedicated the win to Cathy Dowdy, a close family friend who entered hospice care. Dowdy had been instrumental in caring for Harman’s children and suffered a severe brain injury while attempting to rescue his six-year-old son, Walter, from a rip current in October 2024. Although a bystander ultimately saved Walter, Dowdy’s health deteriorated following the incident.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Bill Streicher-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brian Harman achieved one of the biggest moments of his career when he won the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. The 38-year-old put in some excellent performances to beat the rest of the field by six strokes. This was a performance that should have been remembered for Harman’s incredible skill and focus. But instead, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":434997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,19],"tags":[346,80,165],"class_list":["post-434993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-pga","tag-brian-harman","tag-open-championship","tag-valero-texas-open"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434993"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":435001,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434993\/revisions\/435001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}