THE RYDER CUP

September 23, 2021

Harris English

Whistling Straits

Press Conference

JOHN DEVER: Good afternoon, welcome to the 43rd Ryder Cup. We are here at Whistling Straits and we are here with Harris English. Welcome to your first career Ryder Cup.

I asked Shane Lowry a similar question but is there any extra sense of accomplishment making the team, you're in your early 30s, as opposed to when you early, things didn't come easy. You really had to work for this, kind of get over the hump and grind, is there any sense of accomplishment that came with that.

HARRIS ENGLISH: For sure, I think being 32 years old, it means a lot more now than it would be if I had made this my first or second year on Tour. This is my 10th year on Tour. I've tried to make this tournament, what, four or five times and haven't made a team. But put in a lot of hard work the last couple years and this has definitely been a goal of mine. I wouldn't have had the career in this game that I have wanted if I had never made a Ryder Cup and had the chance to bring the trophy back home.

It definitely is more of a sense of an accomplishment and kind of shows, I don't know, all the work I've put in the last couple years means something and definitely glad to be here.

Q. Feels like with the tournament not starting today, feels like this week has already been so long. When you have that combined with like John mentioned, your wait to play in this, is there a sense of let's get the show on the road now?

HARRIS ENGLISH: For sure, there has been a lot of build-up the last couple weeks. When I was going to be a captain's pick, after I got the call from Stricker, there's been a lot of build up, which is fine. It definitely feels like a major. But I'm definitely ready to get the show on the road. I've played the practice rounds. I know the holes out here. I know the wind is going to change.

That's what it's about. I love the build-up to this tournament and the pairings coming out tonight, it's fun. Everybody has waited for this tournament awhile and I know the fans in Wisconsin have waited a long time to watch some live golf and they are going to get a good show.

Q. Aesthetically this golf course is really different from what you see week-to-week on the PGA TOUR. Does this play different or are the aesthetics misleading in that way?

HARRIS ENGLISH: It looks like a links course but it's not playing that way. The greens are soft, decently soft. You can't really run stuff around the green. I love when it plays hard and it's windy and it's going to be a grind out there. I think you're going to see a lot more pars win holes than you would in a normal Ryder Cup. So it's going to be fun.

Q. Daniel just said the preparation part, he just walked yesterday and probably wouldn't do that for all the practice rounds. Has Steve's goal of being prepared put you in that space where you feel the same way; that you feel good about what you're going to see out there?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, 100 percent. I think that's what Strick's motto was from the get-go is he's going to make us be the best-prepared team and each player be the best prepared that he can be. I think that's how he preps for majors. I think that's how Tiger Woods preps for majors. It's great to learn from those guys, and going into tomorrow, you kind of have that out of your mind that I'm prepared and ready to go and let's go play golf.

We are all ready to go and we are just putting the last finishing touches on getting prepared and feeling good about tomorrow.

Q. Can you speak to your working relationship with Eric and the role he has this week, different setting and different requirements are asked of him. Can you speak to that a little bit for this week?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I have a great relationship. I've been with Eric for three years now and he's seen me the lowest of the low and highest of the highs. He's seen me in every situation. He's one of the most even-keeled guys out there. I know this tournament means a lot to him. This is his third Ryder Cup, caddied for Jeff Overton, Anthony Kim and now myself. He's been in this environment. I know that means a lot to him. Coming back to Wisconsin, he grew up an hour from here, so he's going to have a lot of family and friends out here. So it's going to mean that much more to him.

Q. I know you're not going off-site much, but any local knowledge?

HARRIS ENGLISH: The weather, yeah, it's cold and windy. Especially this course with the wind, it doesn't really get blocked much so your ball is going to get hit by the wind from start to finish, and we don't see that a ton playing your normal American courses and the trees and whatnot. But that's something we've had to work on a little bit this week and get used to some of that.

Q. First of all, congratulations and welcome to Wisconsin. I have a question regarding the golf equipment. Do they give you any type of enhanced new technology to try at The Ryder Cup?

HARRIS ENGLISH: No. Normally at a regular PGA TOUR event -- I'm with PING, so I play all PING clubs, and we have the equipment trailer there and we have our equipment guys on the range with us, but I haven't seen any of those guys this week. It's been pretty strict with COVID, keeping us in the bubble.

But I normally don't like to try any new clubs, but if I'm at home in an off-week, I'm sticking with all 14 clubs, grips, ball, everything I played for probably the last year. So no, I mean, that's the last thing you want to do is come to a big tournament like this and start switching up stuff. I think you would find that with a lot of guys on our team, we are not really changing anything and sticking with what got us here.

Q. Given your proximity to Davis Love and his vast experience in this event, how much have you been able to lean on him?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, him and Zach Johnson both live in Sea Island, and I actually went to lunch with Zach last week and bounced a lot of questions off him. He kind of prepared of what this week was going to be like. Especially all the dinners, the functions, practice rounds, it can be a long week. So you've got to kind of pace yourself, and when you do have downtime, get rest and get treatment, do your thing.

But it's awesome having those guys. I grew up watching Davis, idolizing Davis's game. He's been such a positive role model for me and a lot guys on Sea Island helping us out. That guy has been through everything, winning 20, 30-plus times on Tour, playing in I don't know how many Ryder Cups, being a captain. It's awesome to be around him a lot and hopefully a lot of his stuff can rub off on me.

Q. You mentioned up front you waited a while to get to this event. I'm sure you're coming in with certain expectations. Any part of the week exceeded your own expectations?

HARRIS ENGLISH: It's just a lot of fun being around guys in the team room and at dinners outside the golf course. You spend all years playing with these guys and playing in big tournaments and you don't really get to spend that quality time with them off the golf course and learn about their interests and their wives' interest off the course. So it's been really cool for me to get to know these guys on a more personal level and enjoy that camaraderie that we get in the team room.

Q. A lot gets made about the golf balls in foursomes, having to learn another player's golf ball. How important is that, and what is the kind of testing process like?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I think you always want to be hitting your ball on an iron shot or approach to the green. It less matters what you tee off with. So if I played alternate-shot, if I was teeing off, I would play my partner's ball off the tee, that way he could be approaching the green with his own golf ball. Spin matters a lot more when you hit an iron shot. I play a softer golf ball and guys might not like playing my golf ball into the wind or into the green they might spin it too much. Off the tee it doesn't matter as much. Into the greens it matters a lot. So you'll see a lot of guys play their partner's ball off the tee.

Q. On the six rookies, do you think that affects the way the team operates for better or for worse? And has Steve mentioned the precedence from 2008 when he was one of six rookies and they won?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, he kind of gave me some advice on him being a rookie and kind of what to expect.

But I would see the pairings more so with a veteran or a rookie. I don't know how many, especially right off the bat, how many rookies he's going to put together, which I understand that. He told me that yesterday we were in between some pairings, but I definitely understand what he's going -- why he's pairing certain players with certain players. And he's had a lot of experience in this thing and kind of knows what that first tee is going to feel like and the jitters in the first round. I know he's put a lot of thought in the pairings and we're going to send out the right ones.

Q. Do you feel like a group within a group as the six of you?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, like the pods or like the rookies being --

Q. Either.

HARRIS ENGLISH: It's weird being the second oldest guy on the team and I'm a rookie. I don't really feel like a rookie. I was watching Morikawa play college golf a couple years ago, and Scottie Scheffler I played in the U.S. Open with when he was still an amateur.

So I've known these guys for a long time, and I don't quite feel like a rookie. I'm a rookie in this format but I've been out here on Tour for ten years. I feel like I've experienced a lot. So to me, I'm ready to tee it up with these guys and hopefully can bring the experience I've had over the last ten years to this tournament.

Q. You talked about what Davis and Zach said about preparing for the weekend. What advice did they give that stuck out about the weekend itself? Is it something where you have to be there to experience it or did they give you any advice of how it's going to be different?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, we talked about if I'm not playing a morning session or afternoon session, kind of how to handle that. Because obviously we have all of our routines we do every week of the year playing PGA TOUR events or majors, but that goes out the window a little bit because you want to be here for your team.

You want to be -- I want to experience all there is to this tournament. If I'm not playing in the morning, I want to be on that first tee and feel the excitement, so it's just stuff like that, what to expect and how to handle those different situations.

Q. Since Walker Cup, how much have you played foursomes and what are your thoughts on that event?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I haven't played a whole lot other than playing with Kuchar a lot and we've had a lot of success, albeit it was modified alternate-shot. I've learned a lot from him. I've played a lot of golf with Kuch. Might give him a shout this afternoon for any advice. He's been a great mentor of mine. Yeah, we've had a lot of success. I've picked up a lot of tips from playing with him on alternate-shot strategy and little tidbits of what to do in certain situations. I definitely have a lot of guys around me that have helped me and I can soak in whatever they have to say.

Q. Is it hard to find comfort in that format, just because you don't play it much?

HARRIS ENGLISH: Yeah, I feel like it's kind of uncomfortable for anybody, going a few holes without hitting a driver or going a few holes without hitting a chip or a putt. You've just got to be so adaptable in that format. I think it's a lot of fun to play. It's really hard but you have to know your partner well and you're going to both hit bad shots but you've got to pick each other up and keep going.

So it's a very unique format in this game but it's a lot of fun to play and I enjoy it.

JOHN DEVER: Harris, thanks so much for finding us and have a great stay here in Wisconsin.