As the last man standing at the Travelers, Harris English most definitely put down a marker that he has the inner steel to be a part of a USA Ryder Cup team.
“It was tough. I mean, my hamstrings were getting tired; my back was getting tired . . . it’s hard to stay mentally into it and not to lose focus, but I tried really hard to stay focused and stay sharp and really be on my toes. Because, in a playoff situation, in matchplay scenarios like that, you’ve got to be ready for anything,” said English of ultimately defeating Kramer Hickok at the eighth play-off hole to lift his second title of the season, following the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the start of the year.
The upshot was that English jumped to a career-high 12th in the updated official world rankings and to eighth in the US qualifying table for Whistling Straits.
Calling this latest success "a validation win," English explained: "It took me seven years to win this year in Maui and I think this is a validation of where my game is right now. The Ryder Cup is where I want to play. I love Steve Stricker. I know he's the captain this year . . . the pinnacle of our sport is to represent your country and play in probably one of the biggest tournaments in the world.
“I still need to keep playing well and keep showing Strick that I deserved to be on the team. I’m looking forward to have the chance. We’ll see what happens.”
English, who moved up to second in the Fed Ex Cup standings with his latest win, the fourth of his career, added: "Number one, my goal is to make it every year to the Tour Championship at East Lake. I think I've finally locked that in right now and I'm excited about that. We've a lot of big tournaments coming up. I'm excited about where my game is just coming off a three week stretch (14th-3rd-1st). I've really contended at every single tournament this last three weeks.
“Obviously I had great confidence coming into the week and stayed around it and kept in it.”
