By: Ben Everill, PGATOUR.COM

Harris English claimed his third TOUR win in a playoff over Joaquin Niemann at the Plantation Course at Kapalua.

“It feels amazing. All the hard work that has gone into this, all the highs and lows of golf that it brings over a career and I feel like I’ve gotten out of my valley and getting back to the tournaments and some of the quality of golf that I know I can play,” English said emotionally. “It feels great to have some validation out there on the golf course.”

The Georgia native entered the final round at Kapalua with a share of the lead and was there alone after one hole on Sunday. But an even par front nine stalled his chances as young Niemann scorched up the leaderboard.

Staring another missed opportunity dead in the face, English rallied in tough winds on the back nine, picking up four birdies in a five-hole stretch from 11 to 15. After dropping a shot on the par-4 16th, he came to the infamous downhill, downwind par-5 18th needing a birdie to force extra holes.

He almost didn’t need them. The 31-year-old laced a brilliant 3-iron from 268 yards to just inside 10-feet, setting up an eagle putt to win the tournament. The putt didn’t drop, but a birdie on the first playoff hole was enough after Chile’s first Presidents Cup representative was unable to get up and down from long grass to the left of the green.

Although English missed that first opportunity to close the deal after a great approach, he welcomed the nerves flooding his body. Having won the unofficial QBE Shootout with Matt Kuchar last month he’d gotten a small taste of it all recently to fall back on.

“I knew Joaqo and Justin (Thomas) were making a run and I needed to do something, and I love being in those situations. Even when I was a kid, I loved having the ball when the clock’s running out in basketball… and I kind of crave getting back into that. I hadn’t had it in a long time,” English said.

So where to from here? English says there’s no chance he will go down any rabbit holes anymore. But he has the TOUR Championship once again in his sight having raced to second place in the FedExCup. He also is eyeing off a Ryder Cup berth.

“I’m still not satisfied with where I’m at in the game, there’s still a lot more that I want to accomplish,” he said. “Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg of me getting better and better and hopefully having a chance to win a lot more tournaments.”

Check out “Watts” in Harris English’s bag below.

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

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

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

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)

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Putter: Ping Scottsdale Hohum

Ball: Titleist Pro V1