Co Down coach Parsons key as English ends PGA Tour drought in Farmers Insurance Open
Justin Parsons
County Down coach Justin Parsons played a key role in Harris English’s first PGA Tour win for three and a half years in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Saturday.
The Ulsterman (48), who has helped the likes of Seamus Power and major winners Gary Woodland and Brian Harman unlock their potential, told English (35) he had to go back to what made him a winner in the first place and focus on grinding out scores.
“I need you to grind out competitive scores,” Sea Island-based Parsons told English on the driving range at The American Express last week.
“When he was at his best, whatever was working or wasn’t … he always found a way to shoot a better score than he should’ve shot.”
English hadn’t won since claiming the Travelers Championship after an eight-hole playoff with Kramer Hickok in 2021.
He had hip surgery in February 2022 and struggled to get fit before slowly getting back to form over the past two years.
He took a one-stroke lead into the final round and overcame hitting just four fairways and only nine greens in regulation to card a one-over 73 to hold off a final-round challenge from Sam Stevens to win his fifth PGA Tour title by a shot on eight-under-par. “When you kind of get in those ruts, you kind of lose your competitiveness, you lose the fun in shaping shots and hitting different shots,” English said of his drought.
While he had racked up eight top 10s and 19 top-25s over the past two seasons, Parsons encouraged English to pay less attention to technique and Trackman numbers and get back to scoring.
“The things that make you special are untrainable, the competitiveness, the focus,” Parsons told English. “You also have to be yourself … I need you to stop being like everybody else.”
After winning to claim a spot in the Masters and provisionally move to 34th in the world and fifth in the US Ryder Cup standings, English said: “It doesn't have to look pretty, you’ve just got to get the job done.”
Stevens shot 68 to finish second on seven-under with Andrew Novak third, a shot further back, after a 74.
Halfway leader Ludvig Åberg battled illness over the final two rounds, finishing 11 strokes behind English on three over after failing to make a birdie in a final-round 79.
English is skipping next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am where world number one Scottie Scheffler will make his first start of 2025 after suffering a hand injury at home on Christmas Day.
Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Seamus Power are also in the field.
