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THE HONDA CLASSIC

February 27, 2020

Harris English

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Q. You're a sponsor exemption this week; how much do you take that responsibility into the week and compete and then find yourself atop the leaderboard and have that smile on your face?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, very appreciative of Ken Kennerly and Andrew George, the tournament directors here, for giving me a spot this week. I played the Monday pro-am, did a clinic on Tuesday, so I've felt like I've really been a part of the tournament this week, and it's been awesome. I feel really good about my round today. I didn't hit it my best, but I knew it was going to be one of those rounds you're going to have to grind it out. It's windy out there, you're going to have a lot of cross-winds, and it played really tough. My short game was on point, and I made some really good putts.

Q. We talked about it being tough and how windy it was. Kind of a strange day. It started out really windy, then it kind of died down and then it was sort of doing that south Florida swirl. When the wind changes like that, how much does that change the way you go about your business?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, you really have to pick your spots around here to be aggressive. You're coming into the Bear Trap, it's some of the hardest par-3s we play, and luckily the wind was off the left and down a little bit, so it made those holes play a lot easier. But you can't be too aggressive out here because it can definitely jump up and bite you really quick. I did a good job of picking my spots, playing to 15 or 20 feet away from the pin, and my putter was hot today, so that's what helped me out a lot.

Q. Great start for you, spearheaded by that spectacular shot at 11 from behind the green. How difficult was that? Were you trying to make it?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I mean, that's what you always have in the back of your mind. I'm just trying to hit it out there left and have a six-footer for par. I hit it in the sprinkler head right there, so I got to drop it and dropped it on a downgrain lie, which makes that shot a whole lot easier. I actually practiced that a lot in the practice rounds. That's a popular spot to be. I knew the wind was going to be off the right on that hole, and that's a popular spot to hit it on that hole. I clipped it perfectly. The wind was a little bit in off the left, so that helped a lot. Normally that shot is super fast, and I would probably putt it, but I don't want it back. That was as good as I can do.

Q. It was interesting, the first five holes of the second nine you missed the greens and you went through there even par. I thought you showed a lot of mental toughness because when you miss greens out here, the wheels can come off pretty quick.
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I knew coming into today that you've got to have your mouthpiece in out there. The wind is tough. You're going to have a lot of in between shots and a lot of cross-winds out there. You've got to really strike the ball well to have such good distance control out there. I knew that coming into today that I was going to have to lean on my short game, you're going to miss some greens out there, and chipped it good and made a lot of good putts inside 15 feet. I've been working on that a lot last week. It's good to get back on Bermudagrass that I'm used to, that I grew up playing on. So I really love these greens and played well today, putted well.

Q. One of those putts at 18, you hit a nice wedge in there and rolled it in from about 10 feet for the closing birdie. That was pretty good.
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, it was good to finish off like that. I had a really good round today, and to get a birdie at the last is awesome, and ready to get out, tee off at 6:45 in the morning. I know it's going to be pretty cold in the morning, but ready to get after it.

Q. I think the sun is up at 6:45.
HARRIS ENGLISH: I hope so. We'll see on that first tee, see if we can see the fairway.

Q. Nice start; if we can get some comments on your day?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I knew starting the day it was going to be tough. I mean, it's always tough out here at PGA National, especially with the wind this morning. It actually lightened up a little bit at the end, but it was still pretty tough. You've got so many cross-winds out here, and trying to figure out the right shot to hit, and you've got to execute in conditions like this. Pretty happy with the start. Birdied 1, made a great par on No. 2, eagled No. 3, so I was 3-under through 3, and that's all you can ask for out here at the start, and I kept it going. I had some nice chips and that chip-in at 11 was huge. That's a shot that you're not really trying to make, you're trying to get up-and-down for par there, and that was really nice. That was kind of stealing one there.

But finishing up on 18 with birdie is awesome. I'm happy with 4-under, ready to come out at 6:45 in the morning and keep it going.

Q. You had a bunch of top 10s last fall. Where do you think your game is right now, and what can a good round today do as far as mental momentum, all those good things?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, getting off to a good start in the fall was really nice. That'll take the pressure off. I've been grinding -- the last few years been grinding out the Top 125. Haven't hit it my best, but really put a lot of work in last year, and the results have come, and it's been awesome, and I know that I don't have to go and hit balls for two hours after the round trying to find it. I know it's in there. I've put a lot of work in last week, had a couple weeks off so I feel fresh, and really happy with the result today.

The ball doesn't go near as far. Your hands feel a little different and your body doesn't move as well. It's different. And especially for south Florida being that chilly in the morning was a lot different than I've seen the past eight years down here.

Kind of like today, it's going to be tough. You've got to get through and show some fortitude.

Q. It's been a while since you've won. Do you think about winning, or do you just think about executing every shot and it'll happen at some point again?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I think winning is the result of the process. That's what I've been working on a lot is getting in contention. If I'm in contention with nine holes to play, that's really my goal for every week. I feel like the adrenaline kicks in and everything kicks in, and that's what I like to be. I like having the ball in my hands with 15 seconds to go in a game. I want the last shot. If I can put myself in that position, I love it.

I don't really think about winning until that point, until you can see the finish line.

Q. It's a little cliché, but to end with a birdie, 66, how much does that help things?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I would say 18 is one of the easier holes on the back nine today, so you don't get that many spots where you've got a 10-footer for birdie out here, so it was nice to roll it in and have some momentum. Go rest up a little bit, eat an early breakfast and get ready for tomorrow.

Q. What time will you get here tomorrow?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I usually like to get to the course about two hours before my time. I'm not really sure when breakfast -- I like to eat breakfast, work out a little bit and then go to the range, so I'm not really sure. I'm going to have to find that out, if breakfast is open that early. I don't know if that's going to throw a little kink in the warmup plans, but we'll see.

Q. What was your favorite shot you hit today?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I would say a lot of the chip shots. Like No. 2 was a really good pitch to save par. 3 with a 7-iron in there was awesome, made eagle. There's so many difficult shots out here that you just have to bite down and hit the shot. You can't -- there's no bail-out out here. That's what makes this place so good. It really shows the guys who are playing the best. You have no bailing out here. A lot of the pitches, saving par is huge out here because you can get it going the other way and start making some bogeys and then you don't have that many easy holes to have a shoe-in birdie. A lot of pitches today were awesome. I was very happy with my short game.

Q. You're close with Keith Mitchell, right?
HARRIS ENGLISH: I am, we went to high school and college together.

Q. Do you guys have little conversations about this place together and how special it is to him, and maybe that's part of the competition here with you leading after day one?
HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I mean, Keith is a good friend of mine. It was awesome seeing his get his first victory here last year. But I think all of us southern guys growing up on Bermudagrass, I know we don't live here, but in Sea Island we play a lot on similar grasses and similar conditions. I think that's a huge part of it. We're very comfortable with these kind of grasses and conditions. Yeah, I guess me seeing Keith doing it last year was like, why can't I do that.

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