It wasn’t that long ago when Harris English faced an annual challenge of simply retaining his PGA Tour card.
After finishing 12th in last season’s FedEx Cup standings and winning this past weekend’s Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, the former Baylor School and University of Georgia standout has a decidedly loftier objective.
“My goal really this year is to play on the Ryder Cup team,” English said on a Zoom call after his Sentry triumph ended a tour drought that had surpassed seven years. (United States Ryder Cup captain) Steve Stricker is one of my favorite people out here on tour, and I feel like that’s something I haven’t done yet. I loved playing college golf and loved playing on a team like that, and playing in that QBE Shootout (which he won last month with Matt Kuchar) is a lot of fun because you get to share that experience with someone else.
“I’ve been out here for 10 years, and that’s something I haven’t achieved yet. That’s kind of the pinnacle of our sport, playing for your country in either the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup.”
English is giving Stricker a lot to think about due to the 31-year-old’s surge the last several months that has included a runner-up finish to Dustin Johnson last August at The Northern Trust, the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, and a fourth-place showing less than a month later at the U.S. Open won by Bryson DeChambeau.