In 2023, when Brian Harman lifted his first Claret Jug, he did so by ending his six-year-long winless streak. The moment was big, and so when he greeted the crowd at Royal Liverpool, he shared his plans: “First I’m going to have me a couple pints [of Guinness] out of this here trophy, I believe.” Then, when he returned to his home in Georgia, he once again greeted his fans, trophy still in his hand, “There’s booze [Coors Light] in there, sorry.” The point? Following his The Open Championship win, Harman made sure to keep up the “trophy tradition,” only for him to call it “grossest” thing two years later.
Currently active at Royal Portrush for The Open Championship, Brian Harman sat down for a short interview on notsam a month ago and started off the conversation with, “People love to party with it [Claret Jug]. So much fun to party with. Yeah, everyone wants to drink out of it. It’s the grossest, right? I open up the inside of this thing, and I drink out of it for a couple of times, like I’m never drinking out of this ever again.”
The Claret Jug is named after a type of dry red wine from Bordeaux, France, for which it was originally designed to hold, and so, winners drinking out of it is still not sacrilegious. Though that does not mean it’s not gross. It’s nearly 150 years old. It has endured countless bruises, chips, and dents. Hundreds, if not thousands, have sipped from the rim of its silver cup.
So, Harman has a point: “That trophy is 150 years old. The first night, that was the last time I think.” The host, Sam Roberts, takes the bait and adds, “I mean, who knows what ungodly fluids went into that jug.” Harman shakes his head in disgust and replies, “I don’t even want to think about it.”
Indeed. In fact, the two-time The Open champion (2007, 2008), Padraig Harrington, shared in 2022, “The first thing I drank out of it was John Smith’s Smooth Bitter.” And then comes the shocking part, as Harrington continued, “There have been a lot of other liquids in there. And ladybugs, too. My son wanted ladybirds [beetles] in there, so ladybirds ended up being in the Claret Jug.” Food is also not out of the question when it comes to celebrating with the Claret Jug as 2015 winner Zach Johnson ate corn out of it and John Daly, 1995 winner, savoured some chocolate ice cream from the Jug. However, the Claret Jug is cleaned out by officials once it’s returned by the previous winner and is ready and pristine for the new winner.
But nonetheless, Brian Harman isn’t too far off in saying drinking out of the Claret Jug is “gross,” even if he thinks it’s one of the “coolest” golf trophies.
Brian Harman has special memories of the Claret Jug
In 2024, Brian Harman was set to defend his The Open Championship title at Royal Troon, seeking to become the first golfer to win consecutive Opens since Padraig Harrington in 2007-08. After returning the Claret Jug post his 2023 win, the “very deserving champion,” Harman, shared a memorable moment from his time as champion. “I had one day, I was at my farm and it’s wintertime and I’m riding my four-wheeler… It’s nice being in a place where no one’s there, no one knows who you are, no one can get in touch with you,” Harman said.
He’ll always remember his time with the Claret Jug, saying, “It was a little sad to give it back, but I’ll remember everywhere it’s been forever. In my opinion, it’s the coolest trophy in all of sports.” Interestingly, Harman had sparked controversy in 2023 with his plans to celebrate his win by hunting and mowing grass at his farm. British tabloids even dubbed him ‘The Butcher of Hoylake.’
When asked about the reaction, Harman said at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, “I was surprised a little bit. I was curious why everyone was asking so many questions about it. I didn’t realise that everyone was so upset about it. It’s a hill I’ll die on, and I have no [problems sleeping]. I’ll sleep like a baby at night.” Indeed, that seems to be true, especially given his current runs at The Open.
He kicked off his 2025 mission at Royal Portrush with an opening round score of 69 and followed that with a finish of 65 in the second round. The result? He is currently in contention to win his second Claret Jug — and very close to proving that he will not repeat his 2023 behavior!
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