Get to know Harris English

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English won the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational earlier this season as an amateur.

A few weeks ago, Harris English announced in Chattanooga, Tenn. that he would be launching his professional career on the Nationwide Tour. Last week he finished runner-up at the WNB Golf Classic. English attended the Baylor School in Chattanooga for four years, so this week's Children's Hospital Open is sort of a homecoming. Get to know one of the Nationwide Tour's newest players.

What do you drive?
Right now it's a black 2008 Yukon. It's my dad's old one and it's one I've been driving the last four years since college. It's pretty roomy and it gets around. I like it.

Outside of golf, what sport do you always watch on TV?
Definitely college football, NFL and college basketball. Those are the three I primarily watch. It's football season now and I've got a fantasy football team with a couple of friends from back home. It's fun to keep up with it and I graduated from Georgia so I'm a huge SEC and Georgia football fan. I try to keep up with that. I'm from the south so that is what it is game day. That's all we did in college.

Do you remember what your first win in golf was?
I think I was probably eight years old at the time. My mom always likes to tell the story that it was a six-hole tournament or something. I could stand up in the cart and I remember there were four little kids on the cart and I came up to her smiling and gave her the thumbs up when I came in. I remember teeing off from the par-4s which were like 150 yards and the par-5s were like 225. It was in Valdosta at the Valdosta Country Club. My mentality now is the same as when I was younger. Just go out and compete and have fun.

Who was your favorite athlete growing up?
Definitely it was Tiger Woods growing up. He was the one and I think he is the best player in the history of the game and he was fun to watch. Other than that in football it is probably Peyton Manning. I really looked up to him. I met him a couple of times and he's been kind of a role model for me. I also loved watching Michael Jordan when he was with the Bulls. He was amazing. All three of them are great athletes.

What are your favorite sports teams?
Definitely the University of Georgia. I follow them in every sport and in pro sports I like the Atlanta Falcons because I grew up within an hour of Atlanta. But I mainly like to watch all games. Since I'm involved in fantasy football I try to keep up with many teams.

What are your favorite TV shows?
Entourage and Boardwalk Empire on HBO are two of my favorites and I also watch SportsCenter and Golf Channel.

What websites do you visit each day?
I do Facebook and Twitter a bit. I'm starting to get into Twitter a little bit more. Other than that I'm more of a TV guy. I don't do a lot of computer searching, but I do check my fantasy football team every day and see who I can pick up and who to start. I do keep up with some University of Georgia football blogs.

Do you have a career highlight?
Right now it probably was playing on the Walker Cup team. Playing for the United States was always a dream of mine and it was surreal being picked for that team and actually playing in the tournament was a great experience. It was a good way to cap off my amateur career. Playing for your country and playing in Scotland was pretty special.

What is your favorite holiday?
Definitely Thanksgiving. All my family goes over to my grandparent's lake house in Georgia. They do a lot of cooking; my mom and my Aunt Sue and some other family members. All the food like sweet potato soufflé, turkey, dressing. It's got it all. It's just a fun time for me with my family getting together and having a good time.

What is your most memorable shot?
My best one was probably my junior year in high school at the state championship. We were in a playoff and I hit it to about 40 feet and the guy I was playing with hit it to about five feet. We were pretty much out of it but I made the 40-footer and he missed it and we won the state championship. That was pretty awesome.

Do you collect anything?
Not really. My mom's been keeping all the money clips you get when you play. I've got several from amateur tournaments and in college and she's been making me keep them for the future and make a nice collage out of them.

What are your favorite and least favorite foods?
I love steak and potatoes. Recently I've gotten into tomatoes a little bit more but I just can't eat straight tomatoes. My parents love tomato sandwiches. I just can't do it. That is probably one food I'd have to be forced to eat but I'm getting better at it.

What is the best golf tip you've ever received?
I've received a lot of them but probably the one I remember is the one about attitude. I ate dinner recently with Josh Broadaway and he kind of reiterated that golf's a roller coaster and you're going to hit good shots and bad shots. You can't let it effect you; you can't let the bad shots effect you. I've learned you'll hit good and bad shots and you've got to treat every shot the same. If you have a bad day it's not the end of the world. You should just be happy with what you're doing. There are a lot of other people in the world worse off than you are.

What's on your iPod?
I've been listening to a lot of local Athens (Ga.) bands like the Black Keys, The Future Birds, Perry, and the Eli Young Band. I like country a bit.

What major would you love to win in golf?
It would definitely be the Masters. Growing up in Georgia that is the one everybody talks about. Growing up when you were having putting contests you would say things like "this is to win the Masters" when you were hitting the putts. I went a lot when I was a kid. That would definitely be a dream of mine to put on the green jacket.

What's a golf course you'd love to play?
I would say probably Pebble Beach or Pine Valley. I've heard so much from my two roommates who played in the U.S. Open out there and said it was unbelievable. I've also heard quite a bit about Pine Valley being perhaps the No. 1 course in the world.