Last week, we saw one Georgia Bulldog make a resurgence with Hudson Swafford’s return to the winner’s circle at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. A talented player with lots of promise, Swafford, at the time of victory had fallen to 341st in the world.

Oddly enough, his childhood friend and UGA teammate Harris English was going through a similar career crossroad, but since the return to play in mid-June, English has revived his young career and perhaps inspired his old friend to do the same.

By any measure, Harris English came on to the golf scene like a blaze of fire. Turning professional in 2011 after a solid amateur career, which included the 2011 Walker Cup, a Korn Ferry Tour victory—which put him as only the third non-professional to win on that tour—Harris has the eyes of the golf world all over him.

To add fuel to the fire, his 2012 rookie campaign was everything you would want with 22 of 27 cuts made, three top 10’s, and over $1 million in winnings. He followed that up in 2013 with a two-win sophomore campaign that included victories at the FedEx and Mayakoba. The sky was the limit with English rising all the way to 34th in OWGR by 2014 (his highest to date), but as we know, golf is a vicious game. After a lackluster 2015, the dive down began bringing English to as low as 333rd in the world.

However, Harris has had a career resurgence since the Tour came back after the lockdown. Going into Sanderson Farms, his post-break result card shows 10 tournaments played with six top 10s, a second at the Northern Trust, fourth at the U.S, Open, a Tour Championship berth, and one good week away from having the highest OWGR ranking of his career. The 31-year-old Georgia Bulldog sits at 37th in the world and with his recent play, it’s only a matter of time until he breaks into the top 20.

To be honest, we all expected him to get there at some point, but not all paths are a straight line.

I met Harris a couple of years back at Ping HQ. I was testing drivers, and he was in the midst of working in the new (at the time) Blueprint irons. Up close, it’s an impressive sight to watch this guy strike it.

English has played Ping gear for the bulk of his career having only switched into a Callaway contract in 2014 that lasted a couple of seasons. He’s definitely a player who sticks close to what has worked in the past and doesn’t like to overcomplicate anything just to have new gear in the bag. Even early on in his career, he continued to play older model Ping woods into his Callaway contract. The G5 3-wood was still in the bag eight years after its release, and the G20 5-wood was three years old at the time.

Now that Harris is back on the global scene I wanted to get some insights into his gear from my buddy Kenton Oates from the Ping Tour truck. This is what he had to say on English’s setup.

JW: Overall what does he like to see flight-wise across the bag?

KO: Harris definitely likes small fades and tends to like the ball in a slightly lower window than what people would consider “modern” in terms of “optimal launch and spin conditions.” Harris prefers slightly lower launch angles and more spin across the board.

JW: As players go how would you rate his sensitivity to equipment? Is he picky or can he make anything work?

KO: Harris would definitely fall into the low maintenance side of things in terms of his day to day and week to week activity. Once Harris gets something he likes and knows works, he isn’t afraid to stick with it for a long time as you can see.

JW: What about the G400 keeps him there over switching to the new model?

KO: The G400 9-degree driver was such an easy fit for Harris ever since day one at Erin Hills U.S. Open. Right from the first shots, the driver created his optimal launch conditions and he loves the look and sound. With G410, we have been able to increase his distance at times during fittings but that was by increasing his launch and reducing his spin, which Harris isn’t too keen on.

JW: Where do his STD driver launch numbers sit?

KO: One of the things that makes Harris so great is his ability to hit his stock shot at a lot of different speeds.  I would say his normal driver looks a lot like 175 mph ball speed, 10 degrees launch, and 2,800-plus RPM spin.

JW: Anything special or unique in his set up?

KO: Harris, like a lot of our staff players, carries a couple of clubs to fit the gap between his 3-wood and four iron. For the longest time, Harris always played a 5-wood in that space, but lately, it has been filled with a G410 Crossover 4-iron. Look for the 5-wood to return on the west coast as it is a little colder at that time of year.

JW: Any misses he combats against? 

KO: He just really doesn’t like left, at all…so with his woods, we do put a little hot melt toe side just to give us some right bias help.

Harris English WITB: Sanderson Farms Championship

Driver: Ping G400 (9 @9.2 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Kuro Kage XTS 70 X

44.75/Tipped 1/D4 / Hot Melt @ 5G Toe, 5G Face

3-wood: Ping G400 (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Atmos Blue Tour Spec 7 X

42.75/Tipped 1.5/D3

Irons: Ping G410 Crossover (20 @21 degrees), Ping Blueprint (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Atmos Black Hybrid 9X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)

Specs: Length/Loft/Lie/SW

• 3: 39.5/21/62.75/D3+
• 4: 38.38/24/62/D4
• 5: 37.88/27/61.75/D4
• 6: 37.38/30/62.25/D4
• 7: 36.88/34/62.25/D4
• 8: 36.38/38/63/D4
• 9: 35.88/42/63.25/D4
• PW (Glide 3.0 46SS/12): 35.5/45/63.5/D5

Wedges: Ping Glide 3.0 (46SS, 52SS, 56SS), Ping Glide Forged (60SS)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (46, 52, 56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)

Specs: Length/Loft/Lie/SW

• 52SS/12: 35.25/51/63.5/D5+
• 56SS/12: 35.25/55/63.75/D6
• 60/8: 35/60/64/D6

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Putter: Ping Scottsdale Hohum

Ball: Titleist Pro V1