Do you remember what you were doing in November of 2013? For me, I was three months into my Sophomore year of High School. Now, coming up on a year out of college, it seems like decades ago. November of 2013 for Harris English was a little different, he was winning his second PGA Tour event of the season at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba and was becoming a rising star on the tour. However, his rise to the top of the PGA halted after he lifted the trophy.
Last Thursday marked the start of the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions, as well as 2,608 days since English became the 2013 Mayakoba champion. For those who don’t know, the Sentry Tournament of Champions is a prestigious PGA Tour event reserved for the winners of all PGA tour events from the past season. However, due to COVID-19, the tour allowed anyone who qualified for the Tour Championship last season to play in the event. That allowed sixteen players into the event, including Harris English.
English came into the event on a hot streak. He finished first in an unofficial team event at the QBE Shootout in December, as well as finishing inside the top 10 in four of his last six starts on tour, including a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open.
Once the tournament started, English looked like a man on a mission. After the first round he shared the lead at -8, with the number three player in the world, Justin Thomas. English followed up his incredible first round with a -6, 67 in the second round, which had him in the lead going to the weekend.
The weekend pressure didn’t get to Harris on Saturday, as he shot a -7, 66, putting him in the final group on Sunday with Ryan Palmer. Along with Palmer.
However, by the time English started his final round it was obvious his biggest challenger for the title wasn’t Palmer, it was Joaquin Niemann.
Niemann, the 22-year-old rising superstar was in the process of shooting a -6, 30 on the front nine, closing in on the lead of English. Niemann secured a final round -9, 64 with a par putt on 18. As Niemann was making his putt, English was missing a par putt on the 16th, putting Niemann, the leader, in the clubhouse.
English parred the 17th before coming to the par 5 18th needing a birdie to force a playoff. The 18th at Kapalua is a risk-reward hole. You can easily reach the green in two, but being off a few inches could result in your ball landing in the penalty area.
Harris put his drive in the middle of the fairway, and had a decision to make for his second shot. Instead of hitting a fairway wood, he went with three iron. After catching the slope on the green, English’s ball ended up inside ten feet from the hole, leaving him two putts to force a playoff. After just missing an eagle putt for the win, English tapped in for birdie, forcing a playoff with Niemann.
The playoff rules at the Tournament of Champions have the players play the 18th hole until someone wins. Niemann and English both had their drives land in the middle of the fairway, but Niemann’s second shot rolled off the green leaving a terrible lie in deep rough. English’s second shot landed on the front edge of the green, much farther away from the hole than Niemann’s, but a much better lie.
Niemann was able to get his ball onto the edge of the green, but had tons of work to do for his birdie. However, it wouldn’t matter as English hit his first putt to nearly the same spot as the first time he played 18.
From off the green, and needing to make it, Niemann left his putt short, opening the door for English. After reading the green, English confidently drilled the birdie putt, winning the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions.
After it was all said and done, Harris English lifted the Sentry Tournament of Champions trophy 2,611 days after he last lifted a PGA Tour trophy. English was the wire-to-wire leader at the Tournament of Champions, and his dominating performance catapulted him into second place in the FedEx Cup standings.
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