Harris English wins second longest playoff in PGA history

Harris English (YouTube)

Harris English of Valdosta, Georgia made golf history on Sunday. In winning the 2021 Travelers Championship from Cromwell, Connecticut, English won the second longest playoff all-time on the PGA Tour. English defeated Kramer Hickok of Austin, Texas on the eighth playoff hole, and in the process won $1,332,000.

English and Hickok each posted scores of -13 over 72 holes. They then recorded scores of par for the first seven playoff holes before English had a birdie and Hickok had a par. This was English’s second win of 2021 as he also won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii in January. 

According to Max Schreiber of The Golf Channel, the longest playoff all-time was 11 holes. It happened at the 1949 Motor City Open in Northville, Michigan. However, unlike this past Sunday, there was no champion 72 years ago. That is because Carey Middlecoff of Halls, Tennessee and Lloyd Mangrum of Trenton, Texas were declared co-winners rather than going to a 12th hole. Mangrum, who won the 1946 United States Open, would go on to win the 1950 Motor City Open all alone. Middlecoff, who won the 1949 and 1956 United States Open and the 1955 Masters, won the Motor City Open in 1952 and 1954 by himself.

There have been five other sudden-death playoffs that have reached eight holes according to the PGA Tour. Dick Hart of Salem, Massachusetts won the 1965 Azalea Open invitational in North Carolina over Phil Rodgers. Lee Elder of Dallas, Texas won the 1978 Greater Milwaukee Open over Lee Trevino. Canadian Dave Barr of Kelowna, British Columbia won the 1981 Quad Cities Open in Silvis, Illinois over Woody Blackburn. Bob Gilder of Corvallis, Oregon won the 1983 Phoenix Open over Rex Caldwell. John Huh of New York City won the 2012 Mayakoba Golf Classic in Mexico over Robert Allenby.

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