Harris English’s win came after 1 under-the-radar gear switch

After his staffer’s win at the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend, Ping Tour rep Kenton Oates called Harris English a “creature of habit and routine.” 

“He loves the process of what it takes to be great at this game and this bleeds into what you see in his bag,” Oates said.

Looking into English’s golf bag, it’s not hard to see where Oates gets the “creature of habit” characterization. It starts with his 14-year-old Ping Scottsdale Hohum putter and then goes to his G400 fairway wood, which came out in 2018. The only current line model clubs Harris has in the bag are his set of Ping Blueprint T irons.

But if you look a little closer, English actually swapped a piece of gear into his bag for the first time this week in San Diego.

English became the first player to switch into a full set of Golf Pride‘s new MCC Align Max grips. Golf Pride has yet to release the Align Max so details are scarse at the moment, but Golf Pride’s U.S. Competitions Manager Brett Zollman confirmed the new design is based on the company’s popular Align grip technology, but with a new enhanced reminder.

Golf Pride’s Align grips, similar to a traditional ribbed grip, feature a reminder ridge along the underside of the grip to help players maintain awareness of face angle. But with Align, instead of being inside the grip, the ridge is on the exterior of the grip. Xander Schauffele won two majors last season with the MCC Align, which originally came out in 2017.

Harris made the switch to the Align Max from the original Align on Monday, with just two days before the early Wednesday start at Torrey Pines.

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“What he liked about it in particular in his glove hand, he felt like he had more feel of the reminder in that hand, and also his bottom hand and in his fingers,” Zollman told GOLF Sunday. “He’s a really feel player and you know that was that was a big thing for him being able to get awareness with his fingers.”

English was introduced to the new grip last fall, but Torrey Pines was the first time he actually saw the finished grip ready to be installed.

But Harris was interested in Align Max from the first time he was shown it, especially in the new manufacturing processes Golf Pride used to make it. So when he got to the Farmers, Zollman said it was a pretty easy transition.

Golf Pride MCC Align

$12.49

The Golf Pride MCC Align grip features ALIGN Technology that provides a raised red ridge when installed on a shaft to allow for consistent hand placement and heightened clubface awareness throughout the swing for a square clubface at address and impact. The pebbled texture and plus sign patterns create increased coverage to maximize control of the club while the exclusive brushed cotton cord in the upper hand wick away moisture for all-weather control.

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“These guys when they’re when they get involved with a new product, they don’t need too much of a reminder to what it is and what’s going on,” Zollman said. “Especially if it’s something just another elevated product with you currently using.”

While Harris was the first player to put Align Max into play, other pros tend to take notice when someone tries something that works for them. Expect to see more players trying out and even putting in Align Max in the coming weeks as Golf Pride gets it in front of more players.

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