Episode 45: Harris English

Shane and Marty welcome PING Pro and four-time PGA Tour winner Harris English to the pod. They discuss his longevity on the PGA Tour, shot making with Blueprint T irons, and why he enjoys the challenge of a US Open and playing tough golf courses.

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The guys from Ping. They've kind of showed me how
much the equipment matters. I just love that I can
hit any shot I kind of want.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
We're gonna be able to tell some fun stories about
what goes on here to help golfers play better golf.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Welcome back to the Ping proven Grounds podcast. Exciting guest
today Shane Baker with Marty Jerts and Marty one of
the great pros and longevity has been one of the
keys to his success.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah. Four time PGA Tour winner Harris English, is awesome
to have you on the pod.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Appreciate you having me. Guys.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Are you a podcast guy, Harris? Are you into it?
Do you listen to them?

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Or I do a little bit. Not a whole lot
of golf podcasts been in the humor and lately just
kind of learning about a lot of different things.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
What are you into right now?

Speaker 1 (00:39):
The Human podcast? The Stanford Professor. Yeah, just kind of
some science stuff, performance stuff of how I can get
better on the course, eating wise. He had a good
alcohol podcast recently that I've listened to. But uh, yeah,
really anything but golf. I feel like we're in the
golf world so much. It's kind of nice to get

(01:00):
away from it and listen to something else.

Speaker 3 (01:03):
Were you a consumer of golf stuff like when you
were an amateur, when you were a college kid. I mean,
I know that kind of changes once it becomes your job.
But did you read when you were younger? Did you
read like golf books things like that at all?

Speaker 1 (01:13):
I did? I did obviously growing up in the Tiger
Woods era, Ye got us all into golf and watching
him in the two thousands was incredible, and I feel
like I'm a I love collecting golf clubs. I love
old school golf clubs, even at home. I mean, I
know the Ping guys know that once I find something

(01:34):
that I like, I stick to it. And Ping has
made some unbelievable clubs throughout the years, and I love
kind of holding on to those relics.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
One of those, Harris is your putter?

Speaker 3 (01:45):
Talk about that?

Speaker 1 (01:45):
I still have one?

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Oh hum, when did you first start using that?

Speaker 1 (01:49):
So my senior year at college at Georgia was struggling
with my putting a little bit going into my spring semester,
my last semester, and thank Scott Sullivan, who was the
college rep for sent me a couple of putters and
the whole hum was one of them. I don't even
think he sent it to me. He might have sent
it to a couple of our players, and our assistant

(02:09):
coach got it. He was out on the putt and
green saying how good it was, and I ended up
trying it and it stuck, played really well that spring semester,
made it pretty far in the pub links won the
Southern ameitter, won the nationwide event, and it kind of
kept going. And it's one of those things where if
it's not broke, don't fix it, And something about the

(02:29):
face on it. I mean, I know Nate Lashley putts
with a similar putter out here. For us, it's like
three wood and putter. It's the hardest thing to get
rid of, to change, and it's one of those where
I know the good and bad of it. I know
my missus with it, and it's just something you kind
of stick to.

Speaker 2 (02:50):
Are you using the same exact one from college?

Speaker 1 (02:52):
I have. I have four different ones right now that
I've kind of collected over the years, so I don't
know if it's the exact same one. I'll kind of
put one in the corner for a little bit to
take a time out if it's not working right. But yeah,
I mean that the grip, I mean the the whole
grip thing of the Ryder cup. I mean I I
don't really like to change grips a whole lot. I

(03:12):
like it kind of warning because my hands sweat a
little bit and I don't like a real shiny, slippery grip,
So I like it warning a lot. I know the
guys in the on the trailer will send it down
a little bit for me. But yeah, it's worked really well.
I've tried a lot of different putters, I mean, but
it's it's hard to switch.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
What's your club collection? Like at home? How how many
clubs do you think you have in your your garage
or wherever you storm?

Speaker 1 (03:38):
So we were in the process of moving and I
had to clean out a lot of clubs and I
didn't realize how many clubs actually because get four it
out of a closet. Yeah, it was. It was a lot.
And if I've played a tournament with one, or I
can remember a shot with a certain club, I really
can't give it up, especially with wedges, different grinds and like,
oh this is how it felt three woods. I still

(04:00):
have a lot of g two' s G five's that
I loved. I love that deep face on the G
five three. Well that was probably my favorite.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Three.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
What I've I've ever had, Yeah, but just some. I
have some old school being like the ISI's were amazing
stuff I grew up with. But yeah, I've had to
clean out some that I didn't really like and had
to get rid of. But I still have a lot.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
Yeah, moving into a new place, or you're gonna have
always interested in this with pro golfers and pro athletes,
or you gonna have an area to kind of display
stuff you've done throughout your career. Is that on the plan?

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I don't want to make like our living room
or anything like a.

Speaker 3 (04:33):
Trophy room like around the TV.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Yeah, there'll be a couple of spots for the special trophies.
Little Ryder cup that we got for the tournament'll be
in there, a couple of my wins will be in there.
But I'll have a kind of a golf storage room
off the garage that I'll have a lot of my
clubs kind of facing. That was one of the rooms
I got to design, so I will get to display
all my clubs and get to be able to see

(04:56):
them instead of just piled up in the corner. I'll
be able to see him easier and put some stuff
in there. Again, you collect so much golf stuff, pictures
and I mean the.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Tip around team bags, things like that.

Speaker 1 (05:09):
I mean it's a big part of Yeah, it's a
lot of stuff, and it's you don't want to get
rid of it, but it's I don't want to have
it like all around the house. Like again, you kind
of want to get away from it a little bit
and not have all the golf stuff in your face
all the time.

Speaker 3 (05:23):
When did you feel like you weren't a newbie on
tour anymore? I know you're in your mid thirties now
and you've turned pro back in twenty eleven. When do
you feel like you felt comfortable as a pro in
terms of you knew everything when you were traveling. You
knew about the golf courses, you kind of knew where
to stay, you knew places to eat, and then you
started to see the young guys pop up, and you
were thinking yourself, Oh, those guys are much younger than me.
That's like a different generation. Do you know that kind

(05:44):
of hit?

Speaker 1 (05:45):
How I would say recently? I mean I've always. I
mean coming on tour when I was twenty one, twenty
two years old, I was always the young guy and
there was just a few of us out here. But
I'm in my thirteenth year now, and I feel like
probably the last five six years, I've really gotten call well,
just like you said, learn how to travel, where to stay,
where to eat. It takes a while, and you get

(06:07):
to know the courses you come back to every single
year and love the places you come to. I mean
it's really cool traveling or spending a week in every
city out on tour. You feel like you're a local
for a week and you get to know a lot
of the people, a lot of a lot of the
local spots. So we have a good time, and my
wife and I spend the whole West Coast swing stand

(06:28):
on the West Coast. I don't even if I take
a week off and I don't go back home. We
say out on the West Coast and make some memories
out here. So it's it's been a lot of fun
and I've enjoyed the ride. I mean, it's crazy to
think this is my thirteenth Right on tour happens quick.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Right and all of a sudden you're like, oh, and wait,
they've been doing this for this long.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Because you get such in a routine and thinking about
this week and think about next week, and every year
seems to be the exact same of what terments you
play and where you're traveling, so it flies by really fast.
But uh, making some new memory's. We got a seven
month old little girl and it's been fun doing some
different stuff like find out where daycare is a lot

(07:06):
of so so the new stuff that's popping up traveling
with a small kid and on on tour is uh
is new and fresh and it's it's uh, it's been
a lot of fun so far.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
How does the baby travel doing? Doing good on the flights,
like handling that I know that's not easy. We just
we just traveled to Orlando. I've got an almost five
year old, almost two year old, and it was disaster
zone on there.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
You're you're in the midst of it.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
Yeah, I mean you you can like sit you know,
you can sit the baby, you know, and then like
the car seat on the plane and hopefully get about
an hour so.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
That that was a mistake. We made fine out to
Hawaii as we just got a seat from my wife
and I we just got passing her back and forth.
She wasn't comfortable trying to go to sleep feeding her.
So I've learned my lesson. We're gonna get her own
seat now. I'll put the car seat in there. She's
in the cocoa melon now, so we've it'll burn out.
Kind of kind of dabble that in a little bit,

(07:55):
but yeah, I kind of learned on the fly. I
mean it's pretty easy right now that she can still
and be in her seat, but I know it'll change
soon when she's up walking around and getting into a
lot of stuff.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yes, Harris, tell us about like twenty twenty, twenty twenty one.
I mean, you had an amazing year in twenty one.
We could all see signs of that kind of building up.
What was what came together for you either you know,
training wise, technique wise, equipment wise to build up. He
won the Travelers in twenty one, obviously, special week of
the Ryder Cup. What was what were the things that

(08:28):
all came together around that time?

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Yeah, it was unfortunate obviously covid hitting. I felt like
I was playing some really good golf at the Players
that year. I think I was in second place. I
think I shot sixty five at first round, and I
was really feeling good about my game. And then that
was the head deck he won when he shot sixty
three and you shot sixty five. Yeah, feeling really good
about that tournament, and then going to bed that night

(08:51):
and then wake up at eleven pm and they've canceled
the tournament and it's like, well what now. I worked
really hard during COVID, trained a lot, I practiced a lot,
worked with my coach, Justin Parsons. I used that time
to really get a lot better at golf, and when
we didn't start again, I was ready to play. So
I'm not sure everybody did that. I think a lot

(09:12):
of guys took that time to be with their family
and hang out and take a little vacation from golf.
But I used that to get better and be ready
to play when the time came, and I came out
pretty hot. I think I missed the cut the first
week at Colonial, but then Hilton Head the next week,
I got started and kept rolling, and yeah, I started

(09:34):
playing some really good golf. Won the Century Tournament champions
in a playoff over Waka. It was nice to get
back in the Winter Circle again, that break of not
winning since twenty thirteen, you kind of forget how hard
it is to win out here on tour, and you
got to have kind of all the stars in line,
and it lined up that week. I was putting really well.

(09:54):
I was playing really well and get in the playoff
and be able to birdie that number eighteen again to
when the playoff was amazing. And then the crazy Travelers
eight hole playoff.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
I mean you literally, same year, you have birdie the
first hole of a playoff to win, and then you
have that eight hole marathon, which like parr after parr
after para. I mean, those are two totally different situations
for a player, totally different kind of approaches mentally. I
mean you go out and like you said, you catch
fire and ket make a birdie early and it's winning.
In the other one, like, how did you handle eight holes?
What was that like? An hour and a half, two

(10:27):
hours of golf extra on the back into the final round.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, it was. It was a wild day. I remember
playing the final round with Jason Day. A birdied eighteen
made like a thirty five footer left or right breaker
for me. That was either to win the tournament, or
getting a playoff. It was playing pretty hard coming down
the stretch. The wind was picking up. Seventeen and eighteen
were straight down when and pretty hard to access the pens.

(10:51):
So I knew that was a really big putt. And
I remember Jason Date telling me kind of walking up
to the scoring trailer like, hey, stay calm, be ready,
be ready for playoff. Go go do your routine, be
ready for it. And I thought that was really cool
of him to say, and sign my scorecard, went straight
to the range and kind of warming up like I

(11:11):
was playing in the playoff, and then I heard the
roar Kramer making the birdie on eighteen to get in
the playoffs. I was, I was ready. I never let
myself kind of go back down and then come back up.
I kind of stayed at the same intensity the whole time,
and I feel like that that really helped me during
the playoff. Yeah, it was tiring. My caddie, Eric Clarson,
really kept me in it. My low back was starting

(11:33):
to get pretty sore. So that was a long day.
I mean, walking eighteen holes and then warming up again
and then playing eight holes. I mean it was grueling,
but you gotta mentally stay in it. I felt like
we battled it out pretty well. We made some really
clutch putts, and I know people on TV were like,
I can't somebody make it very yeah, yeah, just.

Speaker 3 (11:53):
It just I mean it was fun to watch, you know,
it was kind of fun to watch, like I mean,
it was this literal tennis match, you know. It was
like it was like a tie breaker in ten where
you're seeing like good shots hit and passing shots hit
and you're kind of waiting for somebody to hit the winner.
And it kind of I mean, I'd say for most
average golfers, they see that and they think to themselves,
either you're gonna win or lose this at some point.
But to stay in it and continually kind of get

(12:14):
back to that tea and go all right routine again.
I mean, like you said, Jason Day told you, I
mean that shows kind of the mental fortitude of pro golfers,
you know.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
And I remember one shot, I kind of flared a
wedge short right of that pen being too aggressive and
plugged it in the bunker and it's kind of do
or die, like I'm trying to hold that out. I
know I have to make bar on that hole. And
I like that I like being in that mental space
of yeah, like you said, a tennis matches, do or die,

(12:42):
I know what I have to do. I've got to
do it, and you got to stay in the moment.
And I feel like I did that. I stayed calm,
I was very focused and in the moment and helped
it worked out. And the crowd seem to be in
favor of Kramer, which I liked a lot. I like
kind of being the underdog in that situation. It seemed
like they wanted him to win, and I felt like

(13:04):
my Caddie and I Eric were the only two out
there that wanted us to win, and I kind of
liked I kind of liked that situation.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
So you went from thirteen to twenty one without a victory.
What were some of your close calls along the way
there during that stretch.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Yeah, I remember losing the playoff to Jason Day at
Tory Ponds played really well there. I remember colonial coming
down the stretch, I felt like I was tied for
the leader, maybe one up, and then Jordan Speed thirty
the last three or four holes to beat me. So
there's a lot of close calls and then kind of
went through a little regression in my Game seventeen eighteen.

(13:42):
Ish learned a lot about myself and about my game.
When you're coming out on tour, everything's new and fresh
and fun and seeing everything for the first time. And
for me, I didn't I knew how to play the game.
I just didn't know a whole lot about why I
did certain things and why that made me good. So

(14:04):
it was easy to fall in the trap of like
playing with guys like Dustin or Rory Phil Tiger was like,
why can't I do that? Why can't I swing the
club like that? But everybody does it different, and for
me it was finding why I do certain things my
way and I can't do things that other guys can do,

(14:25):
and you can kind of fall in that trap, and
I did it a little bit of chasing different swings,
had a lot of different swing coaches, and that didn't
work for me, and luckily found Justin I think in
early twenty nineteen and then things starting to click and
kind of getting back to how I played the game
and practiced and trained and all that, and it's been great.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, Harris, You're one of those guys that when we
design our blueprint Irons, we kind of always have you
in mind, you know, like our original Blueprint you played
those when they first came out. Now you're playing the
Blueprint teas and we're designing the product. It's always like, wow,
we got you know, this is the iron. Harris is
gonna bring it.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
You know.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
It's like Harris and Tony is like the exactly tell
us about your first experience with our original Blueprint and
then uh, and then what has been like transition to
the new Blueprint tea?

Speaker 1 (15:15):
And it was wild seeing those blueprints for the first time,
because it's unlike anything Ping's ever made. This is incredible,
I mean, kind of stepping outside their boundaries and making
a true players club for us. I'll hear that, like
to work the ball that can spin it enough, and
then especially to keep the low irons down a little bit.
That's kind of what we struggle with, is you get

(15:36):
into the wind and and some of these game improvement
irons flights of ball too high, too high, and we
can't control it as well. So I love I love
the way they look and hitting them for the first time,
just the feel is incredible, and and being able to
work the ball both ways, hitting it high, hitting it low.
Everything and it was unlike anything I've ever seen from ping,

(15:56):
and I was in love with it from the first
time I hit it. And I think there's an easy
transition going to the blueprint tees. The offset is a
little bit different, so it took a little bit to
get used to that, but once I started playing with him,
it was a very easy transition, and I love them.

Speaker 2 (16:14):
So are you with your iron play? Are you mostly
a shot maker in terms of controlling your vertical or
do you curve it? Do you curve it left or right,
right to left into different pins or crosswind scenarios.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
I like to do both depending. I like the pen
and the wind kind of dictate what shot I'm trying
to hit because I feel like I can hit both.
And the hardest pin for me is a pin in
the dead center of the green because I can see
both shots and it's hard for me to commit to
one or the other. But if it pens on the right,
I can see a fade in there all day. If
it depends on the left water left, I can see

(16:47):
a draw in there. So I like to do both,
and like playing with Bubba Wattson. I love watching him
play because I kind of I don't curve it as
much as he does, but I see the same shots
that he does. Love playing with that freedom and just
kind of letting the scenario dictate what shot I'm trying
to hit instead of trying to force force a shot

(17:08):
into something that I'm not really comfortable with.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
You talk about center pins, what do you typically go with?
If you're saying you're looking at a center pin, no wind,
I mean, are you gonna are you sixty five percent?
I'm gonna hit a fade or you draw or you'd
hit it straight? What do you do?

Speaker 1 (17:20):
I don't really know. It depends on the yardist. Like
if I'm trying to take them off, I'm trying to
add a little bit. That's the toughest one because I
can see both, and it's so hard for me to
just commit to one because I don't know. I'd much
rather a pin to be tucked than be in the
dead center. So a little different philosophy than what the
average player was. An average golfer is like, I don't
what five off the left or four off the left.

(17:40):
Hair's like four off the left is great because we
never really see that unless it's a pro am right right, right,
That's what we're kind of used to, is playing like
going out for the pro am. I'm used to seeing
the pins tucked, so I'm used to working balls and
miss them in certain areas.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
But if you have a tweener yardage, then you might
hit a little draw or take a little off with it,
like cutting it a little bit.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Yeah, Yeah, that's uh. I had to do it a
lot at pebble. I mean when the greens get really
soft off to take a lot of spin off. That's
the hardest thing for me because I I spin it
a lot with my wedges and my irons. Yeah, that's
the hardest thing for me. So I'm working on that
a little bit. But yeah, I mean, if if I'm
trying to add a little bit, I'm gonna draw it.
If I'm taking a five six yards off, I'm trying

(18:22):
to hit a little soft cut in there.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
Yeah, Harris is the ultimate blueprint t player. Yeah, I mean,
just shaping it both directions, high spin, You're you're you're fighting,
unlike the average player getting spin off. They're trying. We're
trying to help them get the ball in the air,
which is pretty cool. Now, Harris, what about transitioning into
your wedges. You're one, You're one of I don't know,
not too rare, but Shane's one of them that plays

(18:44):
our you know, s one fifine pitching wedge basically right
the forty eight? Have you always played that?

Speaker 1 (18:50):
What?

Speaker 2 (18:50):
Why do you choose that over the set pitching wedge.

Speaker 1 (18:54):
I don't know. Just if I'm playing a wedge, I
wanted to look like my other wedges. Yeah, I've never
really done well with like a set pitching wedge. I
don't know why. I chiple out with my pitching wedge
A hill, a lot of bumping around, Yeah, long bunker shots.
I feel like it has more playability. I don't know.
I don't know if I'm one of the few, but
I've kind of always gravitated towards playing a pitching wedge

(19:18):
like my other wedges.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Yeah, it's same for me too. It's like the shots
around the green. It just, I mean, it looked when
you look down at it, it looks like you're fifty.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
You know.

Speaker 3 (19:26):
It's just so much easier, and I feel like you're
more confident pulling that club out and going with it.
So I'm with it. Can we go back to twenty
eleven for a minute, because obviously twenty twenty four we've
seen Ammeter win on the PGA Tour. You won on
the corn Ferry Tours an amateur. What point during that
week did you think you actually might win the golf tournament.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
That was a wild week. I just won the Southern
Amateur the week before. I was playing really well, and
that was one of the events where if you're an
All American, I think I was a second team All American.
I got in the tournament at how To State. But
it was a weird week, like I was paired with
Peter Eulin and Bank. I'm I'm gonna butcher his last name,

(20:04):
Arnan von Vonage. I think you know we caught him Bank.
So I played with two amateurs the first two days
and then I played with John Peterson I think the
third day at the time, and I think before the
last day. It was the only time ever I played
with the pro. I played with John Peterson as well,
so so to me, it just it was a comfort zone,

(20:25):
like I played with all my buddies that I played
with for a long time. It was weird, like it
was just I felt like I was just battling out
with John Peterson. The whole time, and just like our
college days, and uh, it was a strange week, like
it didn't feel like a pro event to me, Like
I wasn't playing for money. I was out there trying
to make the Walker Cup team later that year, just

(20:46):
trying to do the best I can, and it was
such a comfort zone for me, and on top of
that playing some of the best golf of my life.
So uh, it was awesome being the mix and unfortunate
John Peterson made Bogiel on eighteen, I made birdie to
get the win. But it was an awesome week and
really jumped start in my career.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
Were you are you surprised that it took so long
for an ameterur went on the PGA Tour. Obviously we
had it happened in twenty twenty four, but I mean
you go back to ninety two with Phil Mickelson winning
as an amateur. I mean, we've seen amateurs getting contention
even a major championships, think about the Open Championship a
few years ago with St. Andrew's. But it felt like
as good as these amateur players are and as many
many experiences they're getting in pro events and being on camera,

(21:26):
you feel like that comfort level is going to get
there at some point. Did it surprise you that it
took this long ninety two to twenty four to see
an ameter win on the PGA Tour?

Speaker 1 (21:33):
It actually has, Yeah, especially with the guys. I mean,
Speeth was probably pretty close to Scotti. Scheffler got in
a number of events. I know it's a different level
of pressure when you're an amateur compared to a pro,
but yeah, it has surprised me that it hasn't been
ticked off before now and you could see it happen
more often and some of these smaller not smaller fields

(21:55):
but not a big name turn out signature events, signature events.
I mean, it was awesome to see. I think the
whole world was pulling on Nick Dunlapp to do it.
It was awesome to see, great for golf and just
shows how good these kids in college are. I mean,
that's that's how it's been for a while. I mean,
these kids are ready to play. I mean the facilities

(22:15):
in college, the training these guys are doing, and they
are coming out thinking they can compete, and they can
and they're great players. And I think you'll see it
more often. I don't know if you'll see it every year,
but I think more guys are amateurs are probably gonna
get some starts in the PGA Tour, and they got
a great chance to pull it off.

Speaker 3 (22:34):
I think being on TV helps too. I mean, I
just feel like when you're kind of going through some
of the things that Amber Golfer has obviously improved since
you were a college golfer and aer golfer facilities are great,
travel is great, but having cameras on you, having crowds around,
like that's becoming more popular in amateur golf. You're seeing
collegiate events on TV a lot more. And when you're

(22:55):
more comfortable in that scenario, and then you get to
the PGA Tour, it's not such a jump. It's not
such a big jump. You go out and shoot sixty
five sixty five Thursday Friday at a PJ door VN
and all of a sudden, cameras areun for the first time,
and you're like, what do I do? You know, do
I walk weird? Do I do these types of things? Well,
you don't have to worry about that anymore when you're
on TV five six, seven times a year.

Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, And when I was in college, we were never
on TV, and I think that's why they went to
the match play to be able to get college golf
on TV. And it's awesome to watch it on the
Golf Channel. I love watching college golf on TV. And yeah,
you're to your point. I mean, if they're more comfortable
those scenarios in college, they're going to be more comfortab
when they get the tour and it's not gonna be
that much different. So it's awesome to see and it

(23:36):
just shows where college golf is now. And people may
think the average golf in probably doesn't watch a whole
lot of college golf or amateur golf, but these guys
are really good and they need to tune in more
to the US Amateur, to the Walker Cup, to these
big time college events because these kids are coming on
the PGA Tour and they're going to be the stars
here in a few years.

Speaker 3 (23:56):
I mean, it's happened so fast, Marty. I mean, I
think that's what's been so surprising these last few years
is kind of going back to twenty nineteen. You think
about that group that crop jumping off and you got
you know, Victor obviously played so well at that US
Amateur at Pebble and Justin so was number amateur in
the world. It's like all these guys come up at
the same time and they win, you know, and they
can tend and they play well, and obviously you're seeing
it now. Ludwig had obviously a great season. I mean,

(24:18):
add c wins on the corn Ferry Tour in his
first start. It almost feels like they're itching to get
out there, you know. And how much different do you
see the amateur golfer now versus when you turn pro?
Like what's is it?

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Is?

Speaker 3 (24:29):
It drastically different in terms of how they are right
out of the gate.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
I feel like they're just a more complete player. I mean,
the biggest thing I've seen is these kids now hit
it so far. Yeah, I mean I remember coming out
my first couple of years, I felt like I was
one of the longest on the PGA Tour. And really
my numbers have stayed the same, and like every year
I just keep dropping back and driving goes down. I
think I was like top fifteen maybe my first year

(24:54):
on tour, and I felt like my numbers have stayed
the same. And I don't know what I am now,
but I'm probably past fiftieth and these kids hit it long,
hit it straight, They're not scared. They're hitting driver more often.
We didn't have all these stats coming out right on
about how to play certain holes, how to be aggressive,

(25:15):
how to make birdie.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Do you dive into that stuff, like do you look
at that stuff as well? Bit?

Speaker 1 (25:20):
I mean for me, it's more of a comfort level too,
Like now I've played these golf courses for twelve years,
like I kind of know the blueprint for each course
and what suits my game. I'm not going to hit
drivers somewhere where I'm not comfortable with it. I mean,
I'm I feel like the strength of my game is
kind of my mid iron, So I'm not scared to
lay back and hit it in the fairway and then

(25:40):
access a pen with an eight iron or seven iron.
I feel like that's a great part of my game.
But yeah, I mean, these these kids, they hit it long.
They kind of grew up on the track man, and
they know how to optimize all that stuff. And the
training programs have gotten to be incredible. I know you've
kind of done some of that speedstick. Yeah, but yeah,

(26:02):
we didn't. We didn't grow up with that. We didn't
really know how to do that. I been growing up
for me with the ballata ball, the professional ball, like
we never hit up on it. I kind of teed
it low and launched it low, and.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
It was the one that started like an airplane. Yeah,
it's low and then awesome, awesome to see. But now
now these guys are launching it so high with no
spend and hitting it forever, and it's just the game
has changed so much in the past ten to twelve years.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
Yeah. I think also there is like that, you know players,
you see them bringing their foreside or what have you
on the course or measuring every single shot, you know,
so you're getting the feedback every time. Have you felt
the pressure to increase your own distance or you have
you stayed kind of immune to that and hey you
are still a long hitter and just do your own thing.

Speaker 1 (26:45):
Yeah, I'd rather do it in like the workout trailer
of the training room. Yeah, and not really mess with
my swing too much, because I know you can kind
of go too much. I've heard of guys doing a
lot of that speed six training and maybe it messes
up their seven or messes up there wedge. Like it'd
be cool to get fifteen extra yards off the tee.
But if it diminishes some of the other parts of

(27:06):
my game that are very good, then I don't really
see the benefit of that. But I'd rather do it
in the in the workout room, working on my body,
trying to do some more ballistic stuff, speed stuff in there, yeah,
to then hopefully help that translate to my game.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
At this point, have you are you trying to maintain
or you feel a little pressure to gain some ball speed?

Speaker 1 (27:26):
I maintain right now, but I mean, yeah, it wouldn't
hurt now. I mean, this past offseason was my first
off season really in golfing twelve or thirteen years in college,
so I feel like I used it wisely to gain
some strength, gain a little speed, and during the season
you're just trying to maintain. For me, I mean, the

(27:48):
most I'm going to take off this year is probably
two weeks at a time, so it's really hard to
do a whole lot of that stuff in your off weeks.

Speaker 2 (27:55):
Let's talk about your driver hairs G four to thirty LST.
For a long time you play the G four hundred.

Speaker 1 (28:01):
Yeah, again, the sound I mean when they when Pin
came out with the G four hundred that was probably
my favorite driver I've ever played. The sound for us,
the sound, the feel, the look, I mean, all of
it are mixed in together. And even now, like hitting
that G four thirty, I'll have people like turn their
heads like, man, that sounds really good. Yeah, and it's

(28:22):
hard to hard to replicate that. And I think for
me personally, the G four thirty is a great answer
to the G four hundred for for me of the sound,
the feel, what I'm looking for in the flight, It's
been amazing. I've tried the ten k a little bit,
which is awesome. The missits are incredible. Yeah, definitely a

(28:43):
little bit of getting used to swinging a little bigger head.
You can feel it more in the swing. But man,
I mean that G four thirty line is awesome.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
Yeah. So the LST with the composite on there gets
the acoustics a little bit deeper, and that's that's what
you're kind of one that was very important to right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:01):
Yeah, and I feel like a lot more of those
heads sounded that way when I was younger, The G two,
the G five like had that deeper sound to it,
not the tingy yep, I don't know it for uh,
I mean, it makes such a difference, and I don't
know what it is, but when we practice so much,
when we play so much, you get used to certain sounds,
and I know, sound and feel correlate so much. They

(29:25):
might not in the world you're in, but for us,
sound and feel or correlated a lot.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
Actually, I think this is an experiment. Any the listener
can do is put on and so many kids now
practice with headphones on, and that you know, you could
put noise canceling headphones on and hit a bunch of
different putters and you can't tell the difference in the field.
So it's almost you know, you could argue it's one
hundred percent sound is the feel you get, especially off
a putter.

Speaker 3 (29:52):
Is practicing with I think we've talked a little bit
about this, but it's practicing with headphones a bad thing
to do, in your opinion.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
In my opinion, I think, so you don't that I don't.
If I'm doing like a human human Mian podcast, I'm
kind of having it on very low volume if I'm
chipping or something, so you can still get that, you know,
get get that acoustic feedback, but you don't have you
do a big the big one. No, I'm not doing
that at all.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
Yeah, I don't really put the air pods in. I'll
have like a speaker or my phone playing something. But
like you, I don't like putting air pods in because
you like chipping putting the feel aspect, like you don't
get the same response, or I can't tell like an
iron shot, like did I hit that perfect or I
missed a little bit, Like it's hard to tell when
you have air pods.

Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yeah, one of the big ingredients of your feedback.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
Yeah, I mean you gotta have it. Did you watch
the college football playoff this year?

Speaker 1 (30:42):
I did. I was a little sad the dog. Yeah,
but it was who are you rooting.

Speaker 3 (30:47):
For in that situation? Is it just like everybody beat
Bama kind of situation?

Speaker 1 (30:50):
Or I didn't want Bama to play. I didn't want
them to back door another nice championship.

Speaker 3 (30:54):
Well look at this just a slight dig I like that.
I like that.

Speaker 1 (30:59):
I wanted Washington and I thought that was a cool story.
Good Michael Pennox was incredible. I know he didn't have
a great championship game, but it was a cool story.
Kind of an underdog they were. I played Oregon twice
and they're still like a nine point underdog playing in
the second time, and Vegas didn't think they were very good,
and they made it and they kept beating everybody, and

(31:20):
I kind of wanted them to win. But I mean,
Michigan had a great team. I would have loved to
see Georgia play Michigan at some point, but it is
what it is. I'm glad they're going to the twelve
team playoff, mainly for our scenario of losing one game
in twenty nine gays out. So I mean, we've got
a really tough schedule, so we'd be lucky to get

(31:41):
through that season with one or two losses, so hopefully
we can get in that twelve team playoff. I think
it's just going to be make that even better and
make it better on TV.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
Why does the US Open play into your hands so
well because you've played so well over the last few
years at the US Open in terms of major championship golf.

Speaker 1 (31:56):
I love that kind of golf. I love when greens
get firm chest smash out there where bogie avoidance might
be better than the birdies for me, and if you
get out of position, it's like, okay, where do I
now need to put the ball to give myself a
four to six foot or for par. And I love

(32:17):
that kind of golf and very strategic, kind of how
I grew up. I mean, kind of small greens. You're
not gonna hit more than twelve greens. You got to
get up and down. I love it. I love when
the winning score is anywhere less than probably ten or
twelve under. I don't know what it is, but I've
gravitated towards the US Open and love when it gets

(32:40):
really hard. I feel like that's when you got to
have a great mental space out there and really start
grinding and put the mouthpiece in. And that's what I
love about that kind of golf.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
So like when you're looking at the schedule and you
see Pineers number two as the host of the US
Open this season, you get excited obviously. I mean it's
a tough golf course that can play extremely tough. Par
is a very very good score on any whole out there.
I mean, as you're kind of looking ahead at the
schedule and you're looking ahead at the major season, I'm
assuming when you see a place like Pinehurst than Oakmont
and wing Foot, you know that's hosting that year. It
probably gets you pumped up.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Yeah, I know if I'm I'm playing decent, I've I've
got controller of my golf. Well, I feel like I'm
going to be in that tournament every single time because
I'm not going to beat myself. I'm gonna use the
practice rounds to really learn how to play that golf
course and where to miss it to certain pins. And
like I said, a chess match, and I love that
kind of golf and I wish we played more of
that on the PGA Tour. I know it's very weather

(33:29):
depend it because for a lot of these guys out here,
when when the greens get soft, it's a dark context.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
And is there a golf course on tour year to
year that feels the closest to us open feels like
it's probably Bay Hill, Say Bayhill when it gets baked,
feels kind of us opening.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
A hill Tampa a little bit colonial. When it gets firm,
I just like when the when the conditions are really firm,
and and for me it helps out because I can
spin it a lot. I can get to a lot
of pins that other people can't get to. But yeah,
I mean when the greens get firm, it makes it
more penalizing if you hit the rough because you can't

(34:10):
really hit the green and you've got to then I'll
kind of run it up the front. Do I miss
it on this this bunker to get it close to
the pen So I enjoy that kind of golf.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
Haris, you talked about a lot about having a bunch
of different grinds and wedges, you know in your collection.
Now you're using S one fifty nine. You've used the
H grind which is our half moon, and also kind
of toggling a little bit with our tea grind. Tell
us about do you switch grinds a little bit, depend
on conditions, your technique and where are you at right now.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
I started with the Tea grind U in Hawaii, especially
Sonny was a little firmer conditions, and the last couple
of weeks I've switched to the H grind. Tory was soft.
Double Beach was extremely soft. So that's what I've got
to get better at, is kind of switching between two
of the For me, the bun career if it's firm
or soft, and that's when I'm working with the ping

(35:04):
guys to travel with two wedges and to kind of
go back and forth and have two wedges that I'm
really comfortable with and just bring them in and out
based on the conditions. So I'm learning a bit more
like that and and kind of enjoying knowing more about
the clubs and the different grinds and how that can
help me hit different chips and bunker shots and get

(35:24):
the ball to do what I want to do.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
So for you, a big priority on your sixty degree
is bunker play.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Yeah. For me, kind of the short sided bunker play,
because if I'm going to be pretty aggressive getting into
pins and I do missing a bunker, I want to
be confident like, Okay, I can hit it in there
and be fine. If it's not plugged, I got a
good chance of getting up and down.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
Because the pins are so talk for three to four
paces off the green, you're gonna have some really short
sided bunker shots, so you got to bring it in
high and soft and have enough spend to keep it
around the hole. So Yeah, I'm really good at the
basic bumping runs. That's why I like chipping on my
fifty two, my pushing wege, That's why I use the
yeah do great. Yeah, Because I do use those a

(36:07):
lot if the if I've got enough green to work
with to bump and run it back there, but you
got to be able to hit that high soft shot
with a lot of spin out here on tour and
having the right grind and the right foot to help
me do that.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
What is the best, uh short game shot? You think
in your repertoire, where you could you could You're you're
better than most.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
I here, I practice a lot of like downhill live
bunker shots. For me, it's more of a training tool
to where I stay stay in the shot, I don't
back out of the shot. I practice a lot. I
kind of do it in my warm up routine, so
I feel like anytime I get that shot in competition,
I'm you kind of excited, excited to hit it. So
I would say I'm probably better than most hit long

(36:49):
bunker shots and downhill bunker shots.

Speaker 3 (36:51):
Take us to the Ryder Cup. You go out with
Tony f Now and you guys get Rory and Shane
Lowry and this is your first experience of the Ryder Cup.
What was the first let's say thirty minutes of that experience.
It's like when you got to the first t you
guys started to hit golf shots that gott the match
because I mean I could imagine it was nerve wracking, exciting, intimidating,
all those kind of things.

Speaker 1 (37:08):
Yeah, it was. It was awesome to get paired with
my boy Tony. He's the best, super fun, super even keeled,
great energy. It was a very comfortable pairing for me.
I just love playing with Tony. I love being around him,
and it was awesome to draw Shane and Rory like,
all right, we're getting through. We got a great deal.
Let's let's get after it. Well, there's so much build

(37:31):
up to it, and then finally when after you hit
that first T shot, you're like, all right, we're we're
playing golf again. It's it's go time. But that first
T shot, I mean, for me, it's like if if
I can get the ball on the tee the first
time and then it doesn't fall off, doesn't fall off,
your hands are shaking a little bit, and then that
opening hole is just like hit driver as hard as

(37:52):
you can, which is awesome. I probably wouldn't like hitting
a four iron off that tea, but it was awesome.
Hit great drives every day and we had some great matches.
Tony played great putted great beat Rory and Shane. And
the next day we got Shane and Tyrrollhattan, which is
another great match, and they squeaked this out on the

(38:12):
last soul. Shane made a fifteen footer on eighteen to win.
That match went up. But it was an awesome experience
and something I'll never forget.

Speaker 3 (38:20):
I mean, that's got to be a drug. It's like playing,
like like continuing in US Open or getting in condition
at a big event. I mean, played in a Ryder Cup.
Probably the closest. You know, it's around the super Bowl
right now we're recording this and it's probably the closest
golfers can field to super Bowl week. You know, you
get two weeks off. Obviously you're not playing golf till Friday,
a lot of build up, a lot of hype around it.
Not much else is going on in the golf world.
But when you're in that world, you're in that space,

(38:43):
and then you go home on Monday or Tuesday and
you're thinking back to it. It's probably a mindset of
I've got to get back to there. I've got to
get back to that again. In a couple of years.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Yeah, I mean, once you make one you never want
to miss another team. I hated not being with them
in Rome this year, but I got up early with
our baby and watching on TV and a little bit
of FOMO. But I loved watching them and it's such
a cool experience. And to anybody that has never been
to a Ryder Cup, you have to go. I mean
the one at bet Page next year or two years

(39:12):
is going to be incredible. There's just so much adrenaline
and four matches on the golf course, like every shot
means so much, and it's like playing sixteen at Scottsdale.
Pretty much every hole you're adrenaline is through the roof.
I mean, even going back to the team hotel, it's
just hard to settle down. It's hard to go to sleep,

(39:33):
hard to get your rest because you're on such a
high adrenaline rush. It's it's amazing. I mean, it was
one of the best experiences of my life.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
Yeah, that's incredible. I've played on two PGA Cup teams.
So when the PGA of America spun off the Ryder Cup,
they started the PGA Cup which is for the club
pro so we play against GBA, GB and I and
that's been two of the funnest weeks. Obviously we don't
have the big galleries, but it's been. It's been on
Golf Channel and it's been super fun. I made the
winning putt to beat gb I nine a huge comeback

(40:04):
in twenty twenty one, and that was like the most
fun I've ever had.

Speaker 3 (40:08):
It was just a team golf, more nervous than that,
or more nervous like majors or when you played here.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
I was probably like sixteen. When I played sixteen at Phoenix.
There's so much buzz in there that actually wasn't that
nervous and hitting short and you're hitting a pitch away right,
you're mashing a pitch awage or something like that.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
Or no, you're not trying to chip a little ninern
in there, You're you're taking a club lesson.

Speaker 2 (40:29):
I have my whole team around, and so it's like
they're all rely like you know, they're all relying on
me to win this final hole. That was probably the
most pressure I felt on the golf course.

Speaker 1 (40:37):
Actually, team team golf is different. I mean, it's it's
way more pressure because for me, like I can deal
with if deal with if I had a bad shot
or short side myself but it's.

Speaker 3 (40:47):
Kind of on you.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Yeah, you have to deal with the concerts, and playing
best ball with Tony is a little bit easier. And
then alternate shot, so like I let Tony play his game,
he lets me play my game. Yeah, we're trying to
make as many birdy as we can, so it's a
little bit easier. But yeah, team golf, I mean you
don't you don't want to let your teammates sound.

Speaker 2 (41:02):
How did you and Tony pick which golf ball you're
going to use?

Speaker 1 (41:05):
So we played best ball, so we we uh got Yeah,
that's right. I got to play our un ball.

Speaker 2 (41:11):
How'd you do that? In the alternate shot?

Speaker 3 (41:13):
He's like rock paper scissors or something or who cares?

Speaker 1 (41:16):
Yeah, who cares less?

Speaker 3 (41:18):
Or I guess like if you're paring with Tiger or
Phil is like we'll use you, I'll adjust. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (41:23):
The only time I've really done that is the Grant
Thornton played with Matt Coocher for for years and I played.

Speaker 3 (41:29):
With you guys, have like a run there? Yeah we
wanted like three times? Is that right?

Speaker 1 (41:33):
I think?

Speaker 3 (41:33):
So?

Speaker 1 (41:34):
Yeah, I got second a couple of times. We've had
a good run. That's an awesome event and uh. Playing
with Selene Boudier this year was awesome getting to meet
some of the LPGA players and and see their games.
They're they're awesome and unbelievable wedge games, unbelievable putters. It
was really cool to see that side.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
What's left on the goals of Harris English for your career?
Do you have to a do you make goals? Beat?
You write them down and see what is on the
list if you do.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
Yeah, I make goals. I write them down some I
need to be better about that. But I to compete
in majors, I mean thirty four That's that's what we
play for. I mean, that's why I'm on the PGA
Tour is I want to play and as many major
as I can and then have as many chances to
win as possible, and and even big tournaments on the

(42:23):
PGA Tour. I don't care what tournament is. I mean,
if you're coming out on the stretch and contention, you're
feeling the butterflies, you're feeling the nerves and you want
to win because it's it's so hard to win on
the PGA Tour. But yeah, I would would love to
knock off a major two more I mean for me,
it's like if I can get in contention half the
tournaments I play in, that's that's a great year. Or

(42:45):
that's a great week. If if if I'm within two
or three shots to leave none holes to play, that's
a successful week for me, because that's where I want
to be. That's why and why I play the game,
to get those nerves, to get that feeling, that adrenaline going,
and to play on some Rider Cup teams, play on
Presidence Cup teams because I got a taste of that,

(43:06):
and like I said earlier, once you have that taste,
you don't want to miss another one.

Speaker 3 (43:11):
Do you keep all the gear? Like do you keep
all the shirts and stuff? Do you give them away?

Speaker 1 (43:14):
What do you most of it?

Speaker 3 (43:16):
It is and it's like boxes a gear.

Speaker 1 (43:18):
Yeah, and and like cleaning out all my stuff the
last couple of months, it's like how much gear accumulates,
and like we got that much stuff for the Ryder
Cup and you don't want to give it away. I mean,
because it means so much and I want my kids
to be able to see it or wear it someday
would be really cool. Yeah, being thirteen years, you accumulate

(43:40):
so much and it's like what what do I need
to take with me or what can I get rid
of and not worry about?

Speaker 3 (43:46):
Well, Harrison, we really appreciate the time, great chat with you.
I hope you have a great season. Excited to see
you can tend and compete in the major championships and
keep doing what you're doing. Bit a great chat. Thanks
so much time.

Speaker 1 (43:56):
Thank you Marty Yep. I would love to shout at
you someday that your work.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Feel free anytime you want, come on.

Speaker 3 (44:01):
Over, come over there and build a couple of clubs.
Get really diled and see what he's doing.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
I don't know a whole lot about it, but I
love what goes into it and I think it's really cool.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
So I love thanks. Harris's been It's been fun working
with you. And like I said, I was not joking
when we think about designing some you know, always the
deep faced fairwe would We talked about Harris on Blueprint irons.
We talked about Harris. You know, we're working on Putter
designs and trying what can we learn from the ho hum, we're.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
All Scott still? What did what did that face of
the Scott still? Why is it so.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
Put yeah, I know we've put that insert in a
lot of other putters, uh, for players and just trying
to learn. And I think you're so tuned into the
field right in marrying. Yes, it needs to perform this way,
but also what we want to do from a field standpoint.

Speaker 3 (44:44):
So Rockstar Harris English. This is the Ping Proving Ground
Podcast