Home comforts

Today, after 35 years on tour, Harmon prefers to work from his academy at Rio Secco Golf Club near Las Vegas. He does not miss the airports, hotels and varying time zones of life on tour, leaving that to his son Claude Harmon III, who is forging a successful extension of the family business. Butch, meanwhile, still keeps busy working with players remotely or when they come to see him in Nevada.

“I don’t have any player under contract,” adds Harmon. “I just charge an hourly rate and I charge everyone the same – it doesn’t matter who they are. It’s been fun. I have had the chance to work with some players who I could not have worked with before, like Rory Mcilroy and Jordan Spieth. They came to see me because they wanted an opinion, not that I was trying to become their coach – I work at my own pace and I deal with who I want to.”

That’s not to say Harmon does not miss being so close to the action from time to time. “I miss the Major Championships because usually I would have two or three players with a chance of victory, and I miss the rush of being there for that,” he admits.

“I miss the camaraderie out on tour. I like being around people and I like seeing great players hit great shots under tremendous pressure. They make it look so easy and I don’t think the average person realises the immense pressure they are under.”

So if you would like Harmon to look at your swing plane, give his office at Rio Secco a call. He might not be free next week, but it’s definitely worth waiting for some things in life.

As Harmon says: “I tell people the best thing about coming here is that for every bad shot they hit afterwards, they can just blame me.”