Harris English Wins The Travelers' Championship In An EPIC 8-Hole Playoff Over Kramer Hickok
I don't even know where to start with this one. This was the golf tournament of the year. Bar none. Epic playoff is an understatement. Both of these guys buried so many ballsy putts both on the 72nd hole and the ensuing playoff holes and it just felt like it was never gonna end. They just kept trading par after par after par after par. The clutch birdies above are why we had a playoff. Here's how it went down from there:
1st playoff hole: Pair of gutsy 5-footers for par.
2nd playoff hole: Toooough plugged lie for Harris English on his approach
Kramer for a birdie bomb juuuust burns the edge. No idea how it didn't fall.
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Harris makes an insane up and down to save par and extend the playoff.
3rd playoff hole (on the 17th): More gutsy par putts from the boys
4th playoff hole: Pair of boring pars on the 18th
5th playoff hole (back to the 17th): Kramer burns ANOTHER edge on a birdie putt that looked like it was gonna fall.
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6th playoff hole: Harris knocks one close from the fairway bunker to give himself a great look at birdie, while Kramer misses his approach short and left of the green.
Kramer blows his putt from off the green WAY past the hole. At this point it looked like he was buried and Harris would have 6 feet and 2 putts to win. BUT WAIT. KRAMER SAVES PAR.
And of course, Harris misses on the low side.
7th playoff hole: Fairways and greens for both, but neither hit it tight and both 2-putt par.
8th playoff hole: Kramer hits his approach to 20 feet and misses the birdie putt. Harris has this to win….
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Unbelievable finish, and I don't think anybody was really ready for it to be over. The crowd had started to get punch drunk by the 7th bonus hole. They were ragin. They were doing the wave and having a blast out there, and so was everybody at home. We've had crowds back at golf tournaments for months now, but this was one of the best reminders yet of how great it is to be back. I can't imagine not having a crowd out there for that epic playoff.
This marks Harris English's 4th career PGA Tour win. He's been playing some of the best golf of his 9-year career and won the Tournament of Champions back in January. He's not really one of the more exciting or notable guys on Tour, but he's worked his way up to 12th in the world and is getting pretty hard to ignore at this point. He's making a verrrrry strong case for a Ryder Cup spot if he keeps this up.
On the other hand, you have to feel absolutely sick for Kramer Hickok. That maiden win would have meant so much more to him and given him a lot more job security on Tour. Of course, solo 2nd is a great payday and probably means enough FedEx Cup points to get him into the Playoffs (and subsequently his 2021-22 Tour card), but a W would have been life-changing. Dude showed a ton of balls making some clutch putts and picked up a ton of fans along the way. Hopefully those burned edges don't haunt him for too long.
Lastly, nobody was more thrilled with that playoff going 8 holes than Bubba Watson. That guy melted down in a big way down the stretch today on a course he typically dominates (3-time winner).
If that tournament ends in regulation or on the 1st or 2nd playoff hole, his finish was a major storyline. He was in control of this golf tournament for a lot of the day and when he hit the par 5 13th fairway, it looked like it was only a matter of time before he pulled away. He weirdly mis-hit his 2nd and ended up making par on a hole you've gotta make hay on. From there he block faded everything coming in. The boxes on the card tell the story. Very strange stuff from Bubba.
Regardless, unbelievable tournament that I don't think anybody wanted to end. Besides the old farts waiting for 60 Minutes. Whatever, they'll be dead soon.
Congrats to Harris English. Guy may not be a great fist-pumper, but the dude can definitely golf his ball.