Harris English In The Bag: Fedex St Jude Winning Clubs

Harris English won the St. Jude Classic for his first tour win in his 44th event, after he birdied two of the final three holes to hold off Phil Mickelson and Scott Stallings by two strokes.

English won a $1,026,000 winner’s cheque, and arguably more importantly, a trip to next year’s first major. He said: “The main thing that I am looking forward to is playing the Masters next year.

“Growing up in Georgia, I mean, that was the main tournament that I always watched and went to when I was a kid. The invitation to the Masters is going to be very special and special for my family because they’ve put a lot of hard work and a lot of time to get me where I am.”

The 23-year-old’s schedule will feature some bigger tournaments now, even though he will miss out on this week’s U.S. Open at Merion.

Joint runner-up Mickelson went to TPC Southwind wanting to fine-tune his game for the US Open after taking off the previous three weeks, and he finished in style with a 67, which included a final hole birdie when his approach from 151-yards wound up two-feet away.

“I thought that one on 18 might even go,” Mickelson said. “Wouldn’t have been enough with Harris making birdie on 17. He’s played some great golf.”
 
Still, Mickelson feels good about how he’s hitting the ball ahead of the season’s second major: “I’m really encouraged with the way I hit my irons. Got to get the 3-wood in play a little bit more, although next week at Merion distance won’t be as critical as TPC Southwind. I’ll be able to hit higher and softer shots.”

Stallings had a 68 on a day where he had a three-stroke lead with seven holes to play. The two-time winner on tour finished with a double bogey, birdie and bogey in his final four holes. He now has finished tied for fourth at Colonial and Memorial and now second here in Memphis.

“Gave myself an opportunity three weeks in a row, and hopefully take some momentum going to the US Open,” Stallings said. “There’s so much golf to play and all sorts of weird things can happen. Harris has played great coming down the stretch.”
 
English survived a final round where he had six birdies and five bogeys to record a 12-under-par total. He added: “I was glad I had a two-shot lead on that two-footer I had (on 18) because my hands were shaking. I couldn’t feel them, and I was just hoping that ball goes in the hole.”

Here’s a look at the clubs that English used at TPC Southwind:

Driver: Ping G15 (9.5 degree bent to 10.5) with a Project X 8B4 shaft
Fairway woods: Ping G5 (16 degree) with an Aldila RIP 80X shaft, Ping G20 (18 degree) with a UST Mamiya VTS Black 8X shaft
Irons: Ping S56 (4-9) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts
Wedges: Ping Tour with Gorge Grooves (47, 52 and 56 degree), Fourteen RM-12 (60 degree) with True Temper Dynamic Gold X-100 shafts
Putter: Ping TR Nome
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Shoes: FootJoy DryJoys Tour
Glove: FootJoy Pure Touch