Butch Harmon’s next major star could hail from West Cornwall…
Speaking to the NCG Golf Podcast, Englishman Harry Hall revealed what it’s like to be coached by Butch Harmon and which major championship he most wants to win (hint: it’s not The Open)
A six-year-old Harry Hall once thrashed around his garden and the 180-yard driving range at West Cornwall Golf Club with no idea of what he’d go on to achieve.
The now 27-year-old admits that despite causing the club to change their minimum membership age from nine to six, he wasn’t meant to be a star during his amateur days even after mixing it in the Walker Cup, Amateur Championship and the US Am.
He and likely many others were proven wrong when his chip on the third playoff hole at the ISCO Championship dropped to beat four other hopefuls at Keene Trace Golf Club.
Hall, who became a father a few days after winning $720,000 in Kentucky, is now under the tutelage of Butch Harmon, a golf coach that needs no introduction and a fellow Las Vegas resident who has his irons singing and his laughter ringing.
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Harry Hall: Butch Harmon has been amazing
“It’s amazing,” Hall said on the NCG Golf Podcast. “He lives in Vegas – he’s got his own school. Just hitting in the same bay as Tiger Woods and you’ve got how many majors behind on the wall from his players.
“He might have 20 or 25 flags, hopefully, I can put a few more up there! It’s just the stories he’s got. A lot of the lesson is swing work, but a lot of it is him telling funny jokes and stories that can’t be repeated!”
“It’s good. There’s definitely something about him that’s calming and he probably has a lot of success when he sees players once or twice. He’s just a good guy to be around.
“I’ve had a couple of lessons with a few guys in the last two years, not like consistent, I’ve never really had a coach. I called Butch Harmon and I’ve seen him three times in the last three months, and if I keep seeing him, I guess he’ll be my coach.
“I will keep seeing him, but I’ve had 1-on-1s for 30 minutes with probably four or five guys and they haven’t quite led me down the same path as Butch and at the end of the day, they’re still telling you two or three things from a lesson.
“It’s hard to know if they’re going to work or not, but I think Butch was able to give me the two or three things that were going to allow me to play my best golf, and it’s definitely worked. My irons now are just different level to what they were two months ago.”
A chip-in to win a playoff for your first PGA Tour victory? 🤯
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) July 15, 2024
Harry Hall just did that. pic.twitter.com/oFqvBbBcyK
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The usual answer of a top English professional when asked which major they’d like to win most is invariably The Open. But not for Hall. He grew up at the same golf club as ‘Long’ Jim Barnes who won The Open, the US Open and the PGA Championship twice.
He’s the only Englishman to ever win the PGA Championship, but he never won the Masters because he played his last major in 1932 and the showpiece at Augusta National wasn’t founded until 1934.
Hall has played in one major, the 2022 US Open which was won by his countryman Matt Fitzpatrick. Not only does he want to increase the number of majors he plays in, but Hall’s main aim is to plug the gap left by Barnes and win th Green Jacket not just for himself, but to give West Cornwall the grand slam.
“The Masters was,” Hall said when asked if major was the one he dreamed of winning growing up. “Because Jim Barnes from West Cornwall where I grew up, who won the PGA Championship twice, the US Open and The Open, the Masters and The Open was on the BBC every year.
“We didn’t have Sky Sports growing up so the only golf I watched would be the Masters and The Open. I think the Masters blew me away a little more, not sure why.
“It’s also because Jim Barnes never won one and if I could win the Masters and West Cornwall could have all four majors, that would be awesome. That would make them the only course in the UK with all four majors from players unless Rory beats us to it!”
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Matt Chivers
Now on the wrong side of 25, Matt has been playing golf since the age of 13 and was largely inspired to take up the game by countless family members who played golf during his childhood.
Matt is a member at Royal Cinque Ports in Deal playing off a 5 handicap, just a pitching wedge away from his hometown of Dover where he went to school and grew up. He has previously been a member at Etchinghill and Walmer and Kingsdown in Kent.
Having studied history at the University of Liverpool, Matt went on to pass his NCTJ Exams in Manchester a year later to fulfil his lifelong ambition of becoming a journalist. He picked up work experience along the way at places such as the Racing Post, the Independent, Sportsbeat and the Lancashire Evening Post.
Matt joined NCG in February 2023 and is the website’s main source of tour news, features and opinion. He has reported live from events such as The Open, the Ryder Cup and The Players Championship, having also interviewed and spoken to the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Lee Westwood, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson, to name just a few.
Consuming tour golf on what is a 24/7 basis, you can come to Matt for informed views on the game and the latest updates on the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour, Ladies European Tour and LIV Golf.
What’s in Matt’s bag: Cobra LTDx LS driver, Cobra LTDx 3-wood, TaylorMade P7MC irons, Ping Glide 4.0 wedges, Odyssey putter.
