THE MODERATOR: We are joined by Harris English, entering this week No. 7 in the FedExCup. Talk about what it's like to begin this playoff push.
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, it's nice to be in this position. I remember last year coming in, I was in the low 50s and had to play well this week to make it to next week, so I'm glad that pressure is off and I can go play golf and not have to worry about getting in next week and getting in the TOUR Championship. It's nice freedom to have on the golf course, but I'm looking forward to making a good push.
I've been playing some good golf and can hopefully put myself in position to make a good run this week, have a chance to win the BMW next week and see if I can win the TOUR Championship at East Lake.
Q. Last time we saw you at The Open Championship coming up a runner-up finish. What are the big takeaways you're taking from that entering the Playoffs?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, that I can play well in big events. I lost to Scottie -- Scottie was the only guy that beat me in two majors this year. But it was a good major season for me. Made all the cuts, had my best finish at the Masters this year of T12. It's nice to play well in the big events and know I can do it at the biggest stage, and hopefully next year I get in those opportunities and see if I can get in contention to win a tournament.
Q. You were talking about this is where you earned your first PGA TOUR victory. What special memories do you have from that?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, Memphis is always special to me, getting a win back in 2013. You always remember your wins. I've been lucky enough to have five, but your first one is the most special.
I can still remember a lot of those shots I hit coming down the stretch, and doing it under that much pressure and making some good putts, you always remember that.
Memphis has always been really good to me. I didn't grow up here; I went to high school in Chattanooga about four or five hours away, but they've kind of adopted me and brought me in as one of their own. I've made a lot of good friends here, and the people that help run this golf tournament are just some of the best people we see all year, and they've been awesome.
Q. Any specific memories of the win or shots coming down 18?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I remember -- I can't remember if I was one shot ahead coming into 17? I hit it down the left center of the fairway, and it was probably one of the best iron shots I hit. I had to hit it under the tree and spun it enough to that front right pin and hit it 25 feet past the hole, and I'm just trying to two-putt, and it goes in, and kind of gives you that two-shot cushion going down to 18, which is a pretty daunting hole with a tournament on the line.
But I hit some really clutch shots, and it was so nice to do it under that pressure and finally get the job done.
Q. Is there a part of your game that you have improved on this year that might not actually show up in the statistics, like something you really like that you've done?
HARRIS ENGLISH: A little bit of everything. It's hard to say. I've been practicing a little bit differently. I wouldn't say -- I've got a two year old now, so I practice way more efficiently than I would. Instead of going out to the golf course for six or seven hours, and yeah, you're doing a lot of work, but I wasn't as efficient as I am now.
I've recently started to work with TrackMan. I've never done those types of devices a whole lot. I've been kind of all feel, working on shots, but I've used TrackMan to help me dial in my iron game, and for me, I can set up some games on there where I can visualize shots and hit different shots and it makes it a lot more fun for me.
I never really liked hitting balls on the range that much. It gets really boring. So it really helps keep me engaged and a task at hand that if I can complete it, I can leave.
I've just been way more efficient with my practice and changing up how I practice a little more, and it's helped on the golf course and in tournaments.
Q. A bit of an odd question, but we were just talking about your first PGA TOUR win. I was curious, do you remember the first win, and this may go back to when you were a kid, but the first win you ever had, the first tournament you ever won?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I was just actually talking with some of my pro-am partners, one of the guys has a kid 12 years old. He's starting to play a lot of big junior tournaments, and he was talking about the Future Masters, which is kind of down in my neck of the woods in Dothan, Alabama, and that was kind of like a major to me when I was a kid. It was probably two hours from my house, but you had a lot of kids -- like I'd always see the Georgia kids and north Florida kids, but this tournament brought in guys from California, guys from Texas, kind of all over the country, and I won it as a 12 year old. You have age groups, the 11 and 12 age groups, and I won it when I was 12, and that was probably my first big-time win. Guys like David Chung, Peter Uihlein, Bud Cauley, you see a lot of the same guys I saw when I was a kid out here in the professional ranks. That was probably my biggest first win.
Q. What did you shoot and where was it?
HARRIS ENGLISH: It was in Dothan, Alabama. We played Highland Oaks because they were redoing Dothan Country Club. I think I shot 69-68 or something like that.
Q. Pretty good for 12 years old.
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, pretty good.
Q. With the course improvements here, how do you see the course playing differently now compared to when you won it way back when?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, obviously a different time of year. We used to play it in May. I feel like the course itself was a little firmer and faster, the fairways especially.
But man, after playing the last couple days, the improvements obviously with the new greens, the greens are really firm. I feel like the rough is up from years past. Even today, hitting some balls in the rough, it's hard to find them. You get this gnarly Bermuda rough, it's so hard to figure out if it's going to jump, if it's going to come out dead.
They've shaved a couple banks, like short right of 3. If you miss it anywhere short of that green, it's going to roll back in the water. Same thing on 9. So they've definitely made it a little tougher.
There's a new tee on 5 that's kind of always been there, but the last couple days they've had it all the way back. I hit driver, 3-iron into a par-4. It's definitely playing tough right now. They've got this place in really good shape. So I'm excited about it.
Q. As a University of Georgia alum, there's been a rise in SEC golfers making waves on the PGA TOUR with Jackson Koivun and Michael La Sasso at Auburn and Ole Miss. What advice would you give these guys, and what advice do you wish you could give your younger self coming out of college?
HARRIS ENGLISH: That's a good question. I really like that those guys have an opportunity to get out here at a younger age and get to have this experience because it was way harder when I was coming up. You can have an unbelievable college career and you're not necessarily getting in a lot of PGA TOUR events, so to have that pathway of what PGA TOUR U has done has opened a lot of people's eyes to how good these kids are coming out of college.
I've known that for a long time coming up through college, you had Rickie Fowler turn pro after his sophomore year. College golf has always been there, it's just the pathway is a little easier for those guys to get recognized out here and get some experience and getting a chance to play on a big stage.
I'm not shocked at all. I've known about Jackson Koivun for a while now. I'm a big college golf fan. I keep up with the Georgia guys a lot, so I see them at the SEC Championship every year now at Sea Island.
I've known these kids were good for a long time. It's just awesome to see that they're getting this publicity and getting this experience because that's the biggest thing out here is how quickly you can become comfortable and know that you're good enough to play out here. That's what I would tell those guys is it's not much different than college golf. The courses are a little harder. Obviously the depth of the fields are a lot better. But it's still golf.
The quicker they can become comfortable, and obviously Jackson has had a great run these last few events, and seen Luke Clanton do really well, it's awesome to see these young guys. It definitely pushes me to get better, and I've got to pick it up. I just turned 36 but I feel like I've got hopefully a lot more years out here, but it's nice having these young guys come up and push you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports