HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman fancies himself a pretty good hunter.

Now we’ll see how he does as the hunted.

“I’ve been a hunter my entire life,’’ Harman said Friday. “I enjoy the strategy of it. Yeah, we eat a lot of wild meat at my house, so I enjoy butchering and I do a lot of hunting.’’

Beginning Saturday at Royal Liverpool in the third round of the 151st British Open, it will be open season on Harman for the rest of the players in the field.

The 36-year-old lefty from Georgia opened up a gaping five-shot lead on the field with the sterling 6-under 65 he posted Friday in the second round, following his opening-round 67.

Harman, in the morning wave of tee times, played as if he were trying to run away from the rest of the field and hide.

Entering this week, the largest 36-hole lead at an Open on Royal Liverpool was four shots, which was done three times — by Harry Vardon in 1902 (he finished tied for second), Fred Daly in 1947 (he won) and Rory McIlroy in 2014 (he won).

Harman leads Tommy Fleetwood (5-under) by five shots, Sepp Straka (4-under) by six, Jason Day, Min Woo Lee and Shubhankar Sharma (3-under) by seven, and several players, including Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young (2-under) by eight.

“Brian played unbelievable golf to shoot 10-under through two rounds [in] really difficult conditions today,’’ Day said. “A lot of pressure on Brian right now to kind of extend that lead, but there’s a lot of good players there right now that are trying to catch him.’’

Irishman Padraig Harrington said he wouldn’t call what Harman does as “extraordinary golf,’’ adding, “He’s a very solid player who hits the ball very well tee to green, consistently straight hitter, and he’s a lovely putter. He’s experienced. He’s been in this game a long time.

“I think you’ll find one thing about Brian Harman [and] I mean this in the best possible way: I would suggest he has the perfect chip on his shoulder. He’s a great player, but is ignored just because he doesn’t fit the mold, doesn’t look the part. I think that chip on the shoulder really drives him. He’s a very determined, gritty person who wants to really prove himself because, for how he performs, he wouldn’t get the credit.’’

Harman, who stands at just 5-foot-7, weighs 155 pounds and has just two wins in 339 PGA Tour events, is easy to overlook.

He has been playing well, however, having been in the top 12 in each of his last three starts.

And he has played well at the British Open, having finished in the top-20 in each of the past two years.

He hasn’t won since the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship, though he leads the PGA Tour with 22 top-10 finishes in that span.

What has held him back from winning?

“I’m not sure,’’ he said. “I think about it a lot. I’m around the lead a bunch. It’s been hard to stay patient. I felt that after I won the tournament and had the really good chance at the U.S. Open in 2017 [he finished tied for 36th after a strong first two rounds] that I would probably pop a few more off, and it just hasn’t happened.

“I’ve been right there, and it just hasn’t happened. I don’t know why it hasn’t happened, but I’m not going to quit. I’m going to stick with it and just keep after it, and hopefully it’ll pop one day.’’

Harman said his biggest task entering the third round will be to not get ahead of himself.

With a lead as large as his, it’ll be a challenge not to think ahead.

“I have a very active mind,’’ Harman said. “It’s hard for me. I’ve always struggled with trying to predict the future and trying to forecast what’s going to happen. I’ve just tried to get really comfortable just not knowing.’’

McIlroy, who has won four majors, knows a thing or two about managing the lead in the big moment.

“Not getting ahead of yourself, not thinking about what could happen or what should happen or what you’re going to drink out of the claret jug,’’ McIlroy, who’s nine shots behind Harman at 1-under, said. “You just have to stay in the present and stay in the moment. Brian is a pretty laid-back, unflappable sort of a guy, so I think he’ll be OK.’’