Harris English racks up memorable moments early

Harris English hasn't had to look far for good vibes this week at Augusta National Golf Club.

Monday's practice round included a hole-in-one on No. 12, and on Tuesday he learned he was paired with fellow former University of Geor­gia golfer Russell Henley for the first two rounds of the Masters Tournament.

On Wednesday, the eve of Eng­lish's Masters debut, he spent the afternoon playing in the Par-3 Contest with Fuz­zy Zoeller, the 1979 champion and the last first-timer to win at Augusta National.

English said he thinks it could be time for another first-timer.

“Yeah, there's 24 of us (first-timers) here, so that's a quarter of the field, and there's a lot of good players in that rookie class,” said English, who finished the Par-3 Contest seven shots behind winner Ryan Moore at 1-over with his mother, Martha, caddying for him.

“Who knows? I think it's possible,” he said. “We'll see when it comes down to Sunday.”

That 24-man field of Mas­ters rookies includes 18 professionals, and of those, 10 have won on the PGA Tour since last year's tournament. Among them is reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Jor­dan Spieth and a pair of three-time winners: Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed.

English ranks among the best of them over the past two years. He picked up his first PGA Tour victory last season, winning the St. Jude Classic. He notched another win in November at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, and he and Matt Kuchar teamed up to win the Templeton Shoot­out in December.

English comes off a two-week break ranked fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and has six top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season.

That doesn't mean he's not feeling a little green this week.

“I think it's more nerves and all the atmosphere,” he said. “It's unbelievable. This is golf's stadium right here.

“This is the tournament I always dreamed about playing, and it's finally here. I feel like I've done a lot of preparation for it, but it's just go out, have a good time and soak it all in and try to climb up that leaderboard and get some stuff going.”

He'll have plenty time to shake off any jitters Thursday as he tees off at 1:59 p.m. in the final group of the day with Henley, making his second Masters start, and Lee Westwood.

“It'll be good for all the Georgia people,” English said of his grouping with Henley, who finished at even par in the Par-3 Contest. “There are a lot of Dog fans out here. And playing with Westy – I played with him a good bit and like him a lot. He's a great guy, and obviously I couldn't be happier playing last off with Russell and Westy.”