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ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 20, 2015Harris EnglishORLANDO, FLORIDA Q. Harris, that's the way to start the round if you want to shoot 66, birdie the first three holes. Pretty good start for you on the back-9. HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, it was a good way to get started. I knew kind of watching some scores from this morning and knew this course was getable today, the wind was down, greens are a little softer than normally so I knew I had to come out of the gate fast and try to make birdies to shoot up the leaderboard. I saw Morgan Hoffmann play really well this morning, getting to 13-under. I knew I had a lot of ground to make up. Sticking it close on 1 and 2 and two-putting on No. 12, my 3rd hole, for three birdies in a row which was a good start. Q. No bogies out there also. What were those critical shots that kept it rolling for you to shoot your best round in four appearances here at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard? HARRIS ENGLISH: I had a couple holes there where it could have gone either way. I made a nice par save on 17, I made about a 6-footer up the hill. Made one on No. 18 and No. 1 as well, 4 and 5-footers. Those are momentum savers. They're big to keep my round going and keep me in the aggressive mood. Q. You know it's a battle on the PGA TOUR. You got a couple to your credit. How do you feel about the final 36 holes? HARRIS ENGLISH: I'm excited. This is the position I love to be in, couple back playing in the last couple groups. This is why we all play the game. I'm very, very excited about it. Looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and kind of inching my way closer and see how it goes. Q. Harris, started off birdie, birdie, birdie. What kind of mindset after the first three holes? HARRIS ENGLISH: Definitely a good way to get started. Coming out of the gate like that I knew the scores this morning, I looked at, I have to keep pace. Good to come out and stuck it pretty close on 1. Hit it close on 2 and two-putted from my 3rd hole. Good start and kept me in the aggressive mode all day. Q. You arrive here from Tampa in Central Florida coming off a Top-10 finish. Just how good in your mind are you hitting the ball and putting as well? HARRIS ENGLISH: Feeling great. That 6-under in Tampa really gave me some momentum coming into this week. I felt really good about my game. I feel like anytime you go around Bay Hill and shoot a bogey-free round you're playing good golf. Feel good about the weekend and looking forward to get out here tomorrow. Q. You and I, you're hoovering round the Top 50. Of course you want to get in the field at the Masters. How much of that is inspiration for you this week? HARRIS ENGLISH: It's definitely inspiration. I'm kind of on the outside looking in right now. Got to keep the pedal down and keep aggressive. Coming back on line for a couple months now since the Sony Open. Looking forward to the challenge. Obviously going to put my effort into this field. I'm in the field in San Antonio. If I play good this week and get things rolling in San Antonio and hopefully get in the Masters and keep the momentum going. Q. Chasing the 50 for awhile. HARRIS ENGLISH: When I started at the Sony Open I was probably upper 70s. I had a good finish at Sony and San Diego and even that Top-10 last week. It's just the little things that gives me a lot of inspiration. I mean when a lot of people said I was kind of out of it 54th or something starting the last round in Tampa, you got to know in the back of your mind you're playing for something else other than FedExCup Points and money. I'm thinking about the world ranking and knowing how big that round was for me. Q. Would you have thought about that in June? HARRIS ENGLISH: June of last year or this year? Q. Pick a June Harris, doesn't matter. Final round in 50th place. HARRIS ENGLISH: No. Definitely learned a lot from that. My rookie year, my second year I probably wouldn't have thought of it. It's easy to kind of let things slip away when you're in that position. I know that it was more to it than just when you finish making your 15, $20,000 for finishing 55th place or something. I knew there was more to it. I wanted to take the next step and actually make that round mean something. Q. So your Georgia ties makes the Masters thing that much more important and urgent and kind of a neighborhood thing for you? HARRIS ENGLISH: It does. Growing up in South Georgia the Masters is the one tournament I always dreamed about playing in. Definitely -- I wouldn't say it means more to me than any other player but going to school in Athens right down the road and being from Georgia just makes it that much more important. I want to be there. Lot of my friends are going to be there. Lot of Georgia guys playing. I want to be right there on-site. Q. What was it like last year, Harris, when everyone had you contending in February? Lot on you last year. HARRIS ENGLISH: It was different. I'm usually kind of an underdog, I have been for most of my career. It's a different spotlight. But I've learned from it. I've learned how to kind of push those expectations away and really only play golf because I want to play golf and I expect a lot from myself. I really don't -- really listen to a whole lot of people of what they expect from me. It's tough to do that. I kind of noticed what Rory McIlroy does, what Tiger does. They have a lot of expectations but they play golf for themselves which is really cool. I've learned a lot from it and hopefully gained from that. Q. Do you ever battle Hoffman at all anywhere down the stretch in your college careers? How old are you? HARRIS ENGLISH: I'm a year older than Morgan. Same age but he was a year behind me in school. I played with him a good bit. He's a really, really good player. We never really battled down the stretch a lot. I know what he's capable of and especially going like that get some confidence. He can keep going off like that. Q. Different Walker Cup teams or same? HARRIS ENGLISH: Different. He was '09. I'm '11. Q. Your start today, was that fun? HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah. Kind of took the pressure off a little bit. I knew coming into today you got to make some birdies because everybody is under par, Morgan Hoffmann is sitting at 13-under and kind of sitting out there look, you got to go get it. So 10, I had a pitching wedge in and hit it to six feet and made that putt. Good to get off early and keep playing aggressive. Q. What did you do on 11? HARRIS ENGLISH: 11 I hit a 9-iron. 5-wood, 9-iron probably three feet right behind the hole. Q. 5-iron again? HARRIS ENGLISH: 12, driver 5-wood to 30 feet. It was good to kind of get off to that start and kind of know okay, I got this thing going, let's do it. Q. Is it hard to start when you're 9 shots behind before you get to the tee? HARRIS ENGLISH: It's weird. Usually this golf course you shoot 1, 2, 3-under you're playing some good golf. This year is totally different. The course is in some awesome shape. The greens are a little more receptive than usual. That's why you're seeing the scores lower. Definitely a different mindset. Q. Have you played much as Augusta at all? You guys get out and have access? HARRIS ENGLISH: We played it once a year in college. I played it a good bit. Q. Enough to want to go back? HARRIS ENGLISH: That's the one tournament I would watch when I was 9, 10, 11 years old, I watch every hole, even in college had a little app you can watch Amen Corner. I even sit in class and watch some of that. Q. Did you ever watch the BC Open in college? HARRIS ENGLISH: I didn't watch the BC Open. Q. Which class? HARRIS ENGLISH: Might not want to name names. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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