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HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman isn’t what you envisioned as your preferred “Champion Golfer of the Year,’’ is he?

You probably weren’t rooting for Harman to win the 151st British Open on Sunday at Royal Liverpool.

Too bad.

You probably were rooting for one of the game’s stars — or anyone else other than Harman — to seize the moment. Someone like …

• Rory McIlroy ending his nine-plus-year drought without a major championship.
• Jon Rahm winning his second major championship of the year and channeling his inner Seve Ballesteros, a three-time Open winner and Rahm’s idol.

• Scottie Scheffler cementing his status as the No. 1 player in the world with an “I-told-you-I’m-a-good-putter’’ final round.
• Brooks Koepka securing the third leg of the career Grand Slam and further validating the LIV Golf movement.
• Local boy Tommy Fleetwood finally breaking through.
• Cameron Young, who’s been knocking at the door for the past two years in major championships yet still searching for his first career PGA Tour victory.
• Jordan Spieth, because everyone loves Jordan Spieth.

There were many more popular choices to hoist the chalice at Hoylake — a place that produced Tiger Woods (2006) and McIlroy (2014) as Open winners the last two times it was played at Royal Liverpool — than Harman, the 36-year-old from Georgia whose passion is bow hunting and doesn’t come off as super-embraceable.

Too bad.

Harman, who before this week had won just two tournaments in 339 starts and stands at 5-foot-7, doesn’t look the part of major champion, doesn’t look the part of a guy who boat-raced this British Open field with a six-shot victory in the spitting, soaking rain on Sunday.

Too bad.

Harman, with his steady accuracy off the tee, world-class short game and grit, put the British Open to sleep on Saturday and never allowed it to wake up on Sunday.

There turned out to be a lot more rain drops around Hoylake than drama in the final round.

The “Butcher of Hoylake,’’ which the British tabloids dubbed Harman because of his affinity to hunt and butcher his own wild meat, butchered the British Open field.

Harman cruised to victory, outclassing the world-class field and capturing his first career major championship and first win of any kind since 2017.

“I’ve always had a self-belief that I could do something like this,’’ Harman said afterward. “It’s just when it takes so much time, it’s hard not to let your mind falter, like, ‘Maybe I’m not winning again.’ I’m 36 years old, the game is getting younger, all these young guys coming out, hit it a mile, and they’re all ready to win. Like, ‘When is it going to be my turn again?’

“It’s been hard to deal with,’’ Harman went on. “I think someone mentioned that I’ve had more top 10s than anyone since 2017, so that’s a lot of times where you get done and you’re like, ‘Dammit, man, I had that one, it just didn’t happen for whatever reason.’ I don’t know why this week, but I’m very thankful that it was this week.’’

Harman finished 13-under par, six shots clear of runners-up Rahm, Sepp Straka, Tom Kim and Jason Day (7-under) and eight better than McIlroy, the tournament favorite and world No. 2, and Emiliano Grillo (6-under).

In the process, Harman elevated to No. 10 in the world rankings and all but secured a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, vaulting up inside the top six in the points list with the victory, which came with double points.

When he walked off the course and into the scoring trailer, Harman was greeted by U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson.

The last man standing and hoisting the fabled claret jug in the rain was the diminutive Harman, who stood taller than the rest this week and changed his life in the process.

Harman said a seminal moment for him and his belief came during his third round on Saturday, while playing alongside Fleetwood, the local favorite.

“After I made the second bogey [Saturday], a guy, when I was passing him, said, ‘Harman, you don’t have the stones for this,’ ’’ Harman said. “That helped. It helped snap me back into, ‘I’m good enough to do this. I’m going to do this.’ ’’

Two-time Open winner Padraig Harrington spoke with admiration this week about Harman’s grit and the chip on his shoulder he carries from always being overlooked.

After finishing his final round Sunday, Harrington spoke rather prophetically about how Harman would handle his final round.

“Brian Harman is a very dogged person,’’ Harrington said. “He’s the right person to hold a lead like that. He hasn’t won a major, but he’s a very tough, experienced character. Sometimes, we see somebody leading a tournament and you kind of go, ‘Oh, is he going to hang on?’ I don’t think that’s the case with Brian Harman.

“Nearly every day, he goes out on the golf course he’s like playing with a chip on his shoulder, like he’s fighting something. I think this is ideal for him.’’

Harrington was spot on.

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