Harris English, the laid-back former Baylor School star with all those state championship titles, grips his putter tightly and pretends to gash the Council Fire Golf Club green early Friday morning. You can likely relate: After a frustrating shot or putt, you want to take the stupid club and destroy a perfectly beautiful piece of land because, weirdly, that will make you feel better.

For English to make such a gesture, however, is rarer than him actually missing one of those easy putts.

“I’ve only seen him do that one other time,” said Russell Henley, English’s fellow freshman on the Georgia golf team.

You’re Georgia coach Chris Haack. You own two national championship rings and five SEC titles in 12 seasons. You’re kind of a big deal. And here’s your supremely talented freshman showing rare signs of unraveling during the NCAA East Regional here in Chattanooga.

You could: help him read the next putt, critique his technique, take the putter and jam it into the ground for him, or ... not say a word.

No, no, weird, no.

Let’s see what Haack did.

“I went, ‘Harris needs a hug!’” Haack said. “So I went to the next tee box and he was in a foul mood. It was very unlike him. I said, ‘All right, give me a hug. It’s OK.’”

A hug.

And you know what? After such a frustrating start, only one golfer — UAB’s Zach Sucher — shot better than English on day two.

Just one day after shooting a team-worst 74, English helped the Bulldogs add to their commanding lead by shooting 65 on Friday. Georgia leads second-place Augusta State by 19 strokes — is there a mercy rule in golf? — heading into today’s final round. Perhaps the Bulldogs should be forced to play today’s round with those plastic miniature golf putters for kids.

And now you know why English says the season is going “a lot better” than he even anticipated. English solidified himself in Georgia’s top five. Georgia is really, really, good and English’s childhood friend, Hudson Swafford, is a teammate. Their longtime friendship is obvious: People often confuse the two and they can easily exchange barbs.

“I’m the better fisher,” Swafford said, “especially when we go out deep-sea fishing. Harris can’t make it. He gets sick. He just lays in the front of the boat. He doesn’t get to fish very much.”

English, the SEC freshman of the year, also plays for a coach whose personality meshes with his own relaxed demeanor. Haack admits he didn’t really get to enjoy his first national championship in 1999. The Bulldogs struggled a bit in the following years, failing to win a single tournament in 2001-02, and Haack found himself attempting to become the difference-maker.

“What I found is, for the most part, I was getting in the way,” he said. “When it comes time to play, these guys don’t need me out there telling them what to hit or where to hit it. I just need to leave them alone and let them play, because that’s what they do best.

“Whenever I find myself getting a little uptight, one of them will yank me back in and say, ‘You’re getting a little uptight. Are you on your medication?’ For the most part, me and (assistant Jason) Payne, we just find a Diet Coke and a nice spot and watch.”

And what a sight it was Friday, when the Bulldogs sealed their spot in the national championship field with the help of a freshman who’s used to winning championships.

“I kind of came into the season with expectations of maybe cracking the top five and play a little bit,” English said. “I didn’t make a tournament (the Brickyard Championship) this year, then got the chance to play as an individual and ended up winning. That really helped my confidence out a lot. Ever since then, I’ve played in every tournament and it’s been a lot of fun.”

It really was a lot of fun Friday. Sometimes, you just need a hug.

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