Harman’s former neighbors rooting him on in The Masters

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Savannah native and former Georgia Bulldog Brian Harman finished his second round at The Masters tied for second, after shooting back-to-back rounds of 69.

Fans worldwide are tuned in to The Masters, and that includes those at Southbridge Golf Club where Harman grew up and learned to play the game. Members gathered at the clubhouse Thursday to watch the local tee off.

Harman has won the Member’s Masters more than once at Southbridge, but as he looks for the green jacket at Augusta National, he’s got a group of supporters following along stroke by stroke back home.

“It’s always fun to watch him,” said Patrick Graham, the President of the Board of Directors of Southbridge Golf Club. “It’s a lot more fun to watch him when he plays well, and if he’s in contention by this weekend, hopefully Sunday we have a big group of people up here, but we have a small group that’s always here, trying to pull for him every time he plays, so, we’ve known him for, gosh, ever since he was 12 or 13 years old playing golf.”

They’ve planned a watch party for Sunday, and some members said they’ve got tickets to the RBC Heritage next week to see him play at Harbour Town.

The lefty was tied for the lead briefly early in the day, keeping himself in the mix with some great par saves in the middle of his round. He finished strong with birdies on his last two holes. Harman made nine birdies through two rounds.

“You know, three weeks ago, I didn’t expect to be playing in the Masters,” Harman said in the main interview room following his round. “So after a couple good days to be in contention is just icing on the cake for me. It’s great. I’m going to try to put two more good ones together and see what happens. I had some nerves this morning for sure. Whenever you look up on the leaderboard and you see your name up there pretty high at Augusta, it’s hard not to get nervous. I was nervous. But it was nice to settle down with a good birdie on two, and I struck it well all day today.”

Harman is paired with Marc Leishman on Saturday and tees off at 2:10 p.m.

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