CROMWELL, Conn. — Golf’s a funny game.
Harris English went seven years without a win before ending the drought in January. Now he has two victories in his past 15 starts.
English’s win at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January at Kapalua was particularly emotional because of the long wait, at times leaving him to wonder whether he would ever win again.
English’s win on Sunday at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands must have felt like seven years, because it took eight playoff holes for him to do it.
“This is a validation win,’’ English said. “It took me seven years to win this year in Maui, and I think this is a validation of where my game is right now.’’
English outlasted Kramer Hickok, who was seeking his first PGA Tour win in his 68th career start, when he buried 16-foot birdie putt on the eighth playoff hole. It was the sixth time the pair played the 18th hole during the playoff.
The match ended at 8:09 p.m. with barely enough light for one more hole had Harris not won it there.
“It was just a tremendous day,’’ said Hickok, who was gracious in defeat despite being gutted for being denied his first win. “Kudos to Harris. He battled so hard. There were times I put him in a tough spot, he put me in a tough spot, and he came out on top and he’s a true champion.’’
It was English’s fourth career victory and it was as sweet as they come, because it was the most difficult. It took 26 holes in six hours and 34 minutes to secure it.
English will remember the 18th hole at TPC River Highlands for the rest of his life, because of the 28-footer for birdie in regulation to get to 13-under par and take the outright lead and for the 16-footer on the eighth extra hole that clinched it some two hours later.
As the playoff carried on with the sun setting and daylight dwindling, English said he and Hickok were “both joking, like somebody has got to make a birdie at some point.’’
The PGA Tour record for longest playoff is 11 holes at the 1949 Motor City Open, where Lloyd Mangrum and Cary Middlecoff agreed to be co-champions when darkness set in and the holes were unplayable.
The longest playoff at the Travelers Championship playoff before Sunday was seven holes, which occurred in 1961 and ’62.
The two players took turns making clutch par saves to stay alive in the playoff when one had the other on the ropes.
“They both played phenomenal,’’ English’s caddie Eric Larson said. “It was incredible. Right when you thought one guy had the advantage, the other guy made a long putt to stay in it. It’s too bad they can’t tie.’’
English, playing two groups in front of Hickok, who was in the final pairing with Bubba Watson having taken a share of the 54-hole lead into the day, looked like he had the tournament won in regulation when he drained that 28-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, unleashing a wild uppercut fist pump.
The reaction was completely out of character for the highly reserved English.
“You never see him get emotional like that and get that fired up,’’ Larson said. “That was good energy. That was cool.’’
That putt got English to 13-under par with Hickok at 12-under.
Hickok, Jordan Spieth’s roommate in college at Texas, looked to have ruined his chance to tie it when he hit his wedge approach shot from the middle of the fairway into the front left bunker on 18 in regulation.
That was the bunker from where Spieth holed out to win the 2017 Travelers. Hickok splashed out to 9 feet and made the must-make to force extra holes, sending the huge crowd around 18 into a frenzy.
“I was imagining the shot [Spieth] hit and thought it was going in,’’ Hickok said.
Spieth had texted Hickok on Saturday night and told him, “Cool, calm collected, you got this.’’
As he walked off the green to sign his card, chants of “Kramer Hickok’’ rang through the crowd, which craved more golf.
“I’ve never heard that in my life,’’ Hickok said. “It was like a baseball game out there. It was so cool, because all day all I heard was, ‘Bubba, Bubba, Bubba.’ ’’
When Hickok’s tying putt went in, English, who was staying loose on the practice range several hundred yards away, heard the roars and nodded at Larson as if to say, “OK, back to work.’’
He, of course, had little idea how much more work there was to be done.
“What an experience,’’ English said. “I felt good all week this week, but you just never know when a win is coming.’’