How Harris English’s Old Putter Grip Led to an Unusual Issue at the Ryder Cup

Harris English was one of the captain’s picks for Team USA in the Ryder Cup. Moreover, he has been using a ping palm lock, putting grip for nearly a decade now. English has four PGA Tour victories, with two of these wins coming in the 2020-21 season with this grip. Hence, changing the grip was never an option for him. 

Meanwhile, this grip has been on English’s putter since his days at the University of Georgia. Harris had triumphed at Sentry Tournaments of Champions and Travelers Championship to get a place in the Ryder Cup. Moreover, in all these victories, his putter played an important role. Hence, Harris had no intentions of changing the grip for the Ryder Cup as well. 

How an old putting grip almost got Harris English into trouble at Ryder Cup

Moreover, Harris English used the putting grip in its current state for the first two days at the Ryder Cup. But things changed on the final day when he received a call from Steve Stricker. The skipper told Harris that he needs to take his putter to the officials.  

“I guess somebody had called in — they saw [the grip] on television or whatever — and saw the banana flap over,” said Harris. “They deemed the grip illegal. This was Sunday morning about two hours before my tee time as I’m getting warmed up.”

The rubber grip had sealed the cloth material. But with time, it was now hanging at the butt end of the putter, which is also known as a banana flap. This left the rubber cap exposed, making it an illegal putting grip. Moreover, he was on a conference call with a couple of USGA and Ryder Cup officials. 

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Did the rules officials allow Harris to play with the same putter?

Furthermore, even after having a conversation with officials, they confirmed the grip to be non-conforming. “It was past the point of being worn down and had been deemed damaged,” English said.

 “I’ve been putting with it for 8, 9, 10 years — I have no idea how long. Somehow, someone thought it made me putt better. I don’t know. I have no idea why.”

The grip needed a quick fix, and the Team USA vice captain Davis Love III made an emergency surgery to the grip. “We gauzed it so it would be flush with the other cloth part. He did it in a few minutes. He finished it and gave it to the rules official, and the rules official had to go give it to [Padraig Harrington], I guess, to OK it. Then I went out and played with it.”

However, after all this drama, Harris sadly lost his Sunday singles match against Lee Westwood. But he said he was lucky enough to play with almost an identical putter as he was not fond of changing the grip just before Sunday’s round. Furthermore, he concluded by accepting that he probably has to put up a new grip soon. 

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