Beyond the Ropes: Harris English gets a buzz out of ‘Jeopardy!’

The category: Former University of Georgia golfers. Get your buzzers ready.

The answer for $200: This two-time PGA TOUR winner is making his 200th career start at this week’s RSM Classic.

Please respond in the form of a question.

The correct response: Who is Harris English?

OK, so Alex Trebek hasn’t really offered up that category on “Jeopardy!” – at least not yet. But if he does, it’s a good bet that English will be watching (and, of course, voicing his response ahead of the three actual contestants).

English is a huge fan of the popular game show, which is no surprise considering his educational background. He made the Southeastern Conference All-Academic honor roll in each of his four years at Georgia and graduated with a degree in Consumer Economics.

While he’s never been on “Jeopardy!,” English could certainly hold his own if given the opportunity – and, no, he wouldn’t have to rely on running the table in his go-to category of sports. With all sorts of random facts stored in his brain, he could quickly spit out the answers in more challenging areas.

“It could be like a science -- stuff you have learned in high school or college, but I can regurgitate the information,” English said. “But I like the random categories like ‘Potpourri.’ That can be about anything, really.”

Of course, there are some categories, English wouldn’t buzz in on. Take “Opera,” for example, or “Shakespeare.” Of course, most of us would say the same.

The self-described “fanatic” of “Jeopardy!” has watched the long-running TV show since he was a kid. He’s a big fan of trivia nights, too, and has won several competitions while playing with his buddies.

“My mom would always cook dinner and then as a family, we just kind of watched the ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and ‘Jeopardy!’” he recalled, adding that his father was probably the best at playing the games. “It was kind of our time as a family.

“I just love trivia. It kind of stuck to me as a kid and I still watch it.”

When he has an off-week and is back home in Sea Island, Georgia, he likes to square off against his wife, Helen. He says they are on par with each other when it comes to the game.

“We'll sit down and that's kind of our thing is to watch ‘Jeopardy!’ and kind of compete against each other in a fun way,” English says. “That's cool. It sounds a little cheesy, but it's fun.

“We'll just sit on the couch and kind of yell out the answer. Obviously, it you get it wrong it doesn't mean anything, but it's fun to guess.”

On a good night, English said he may get up to nine questions right. No doubt he would have cleaned up that recent night when all three contestants missed – dare we say, fumbled -- all five football questions.

They didn’t know what a fair catch, offsetting penalties or an option play was. They couldn’t tell you what football team Tom Landry coached or who the Purple People Eaters were. And to make matters funnier - they didn’t even try to guess. Click here to watch the video.

The huge Georgia and Atlanta Falcons fan missed that episode. But English is well acquainted with Ken Jennings, who won 74 consecutive “Jeopardy!” games and nearly $3.2 million. And he watched Eddie Timanus, the first blind contestant on the show who won five games in 1999 and has returned for four other Tournament of Champions shows, most recently in 2014.

“It's just kind of cool these guys that get on some runs,” English said. “It's pretty cool to watch.”

English says he and his wife often do the game-show double and watch “Wheel of Fortune,” too. But he’d be the first to admit he’s not as good at that TV show where contestants solve word puzzles.

“Some of those confuse me a little bit when they do the crosswords,” he says. “We will usually do both, but mainly ‘Jeopardy!’ is our thing.”

Ask English what a good “Jeopardy!” question featuring him would be and he’s stumped. There are options, to be sure. He marks his ball with a 1989 quarter, for one, because it’s the year in which he was born. His bucket list includes skydiving, flying in an F16 and driving a NASCAR vehicle.

Maybe, he finally says, it could be about where he grew up – English was born in Valdosta, Georgia; lived in nearby Quitman for a while and then moved to Moultrie when he was 5 years old.

“So I've been around a little bit, but a lot of people considered like Thomasville or Valdosta where I'm from,” he says. “But it was really Moultrie where I grew up, I guess.”

See, even he isn’t sure of the right answer, Alex.

Thankfully, it was not Final Jeopardy!