Harris English picked up his second victory of 2013, winning the OHL Classic at Mayakoba by five strokes.
The victory vaulted English into second place in the FedExCup standings after six events on the 2013-14 schedule. The PGA Tour will now take a break before returning to Hawaii in early January for the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua.
English began the final round one stroke behind Robert Karlsson, and shot 6-under 65 to win by four strokes at 21-under 263. An eagle on the par-5 fifth increased Karlsson’s lead to two, and English was still one back after birdies at 7 and 8, his third and fourth on the front nine.
But English birdied three of the first five holes on the back nine while Karlsson played those five holes in 4-over. With no one else able to make a sustained run at English’s lead, the recent UGA golfer coasted down the stretch with pars on his last four holes.
English, who won the Memphis Classic the week before the U.S. Open, is in his third season on the PGA Tour. After a solid rookie showing in 2012, he finished 31st in the FedExCup standings for the 2013 season, narrowly missing a spot in the Tour Championship at East Lake.
The 24-year-old English is a native of south Georgia and has lived on St. Simons Island since graduating from UGA in 2011. He was one of the state’s top juniors, winning the Future Masters in Dothan, Ala., twice and the Southern Junior, as well as 16 Southeastern Junior Tour events.
English won the 2007 Georgia Amateur just prior to enrolling as a freshman in Athens, and finished just behind teammate Russell Henley the next two years. While a member of the UGA golf team, he twice turned in strong efforts in the Web.com Tour’s Stadion Classic at UGA, and won on that tour as an amateur shortly after graduating.
After competing on the 2011 U.S. Walker Cup team, English lost in a playoff in his second Web.com start as a pro and tied for third two weeks later. He made it through Q-school in his first attempt to earn a spot on the 2012 PGA Tour, and played well as a rookie before scoring his first win earlier this year.
The victory was worth $1,080,000 for English, who finished seventh several weeks earlier in a PGA Tour event in Malaysia. He moved into a tie for the lead after 36 holes with a second round 62, and shot 68 in the third round to trail Karlsson by one.