“Not a fan of people who kill for sport” – When Brian Harman opened up about hunting and the life lessons it gave

Brian Harman is a hunter, both metaphorically and literally. The Open Championship 2023 winner has openly admitted to being a hunting enthusiast. This was also a point of criticism for the golfer. However, the 36-year-old American seems to be too invested in it.

Following Harman’s maiden major title win, fans have now dug up an old interview of the golfer where he opens up about the life lessons he received from hunting. Speaking about his early introduction to the wild, the PGA Tour veteran revealed that he was 8 when he first killed a squirrel with his BB gun. The golfer admitted that he along with his family “ate the squirrel” despite the kill being an accident.

According to him, his father was of the opinion that people shouldn’t “kill for fun.” Further explaining the experience, he said that he himself was “not a fan of people who kill for sport.” Speaking in an interview in 2020, Brian Harman said, as quoted by Golfweek:

“It (the lesson from his father) built a deep respect for animals. What they provide. They are a renewable resource. Being able to know where your meat comes from is important to me, being able to take care of the animal once you’ve killed it shows immense respect to the animal.

"I am not a fan of people who kill for sport. I enjoy hunting but I also enjoy taking care of the animal after the fact and helping to feed my family with it.”

Harman is as good at hunting as he is at golf. According to the golfer, tracking through woods and casting a fishing line is in his DNA. The Open champion claimed to have killed his first deer at age 12. He even hunted down an 850-pound elk and yielded 300 pounds of meat in 2020.

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Brian Harman says hunting has helped his golf career

According to Brian Harman, hunting and fishing have benefitted his golf career. The player claims that he gets “most of my mental work for golf done” while on hunting trips. He drew parallels between the two activities and said that they needed similar amounts of practice to perfect.

Harman said, as quoted by Golfweek:

“When I’m hunting, that’s where I get most of my mental work for golf done. I’m always thinking about what I can do to get better. And both take a lot of patience and both frustrate you to your wit’s end. Both can be extremely rewarding, but you fail way more than you succeed in hunting, and that’s the same way it is in golf.

"It’s a mind game in the woods and on the golf course, a chess match that challenges every time.”

While many have taken Brian Harman’s hunting habit as a point of criticism online after his win at Hoylake, it’s noteworthy that he seems to be more than proud of his unique skillset.