TOM CARLISLE: Delighted to be joined in the media center but our defending champion, Billy Horschel. Welcome back. It's your first start since I think April. How are you feeling coming into this week?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, thank you, excited to be back. I think everyone is well aware of my fondness for this place and obviously the success I've had in the brief history of playing this golf course and this great tournament.
So when I knew I was going to have that surgery, in discussion with the docs of when I could get back and looking at the schedule and the time, it looked like I with as going to be back in time for this. It's nice to be back here. Rehab has gone very well. Still not 100 per cent with the hip but there's no pain, which is a good thing and the golf game is in a decent spot for coming out of surgery.
TOM CARLISLE: How helpful was it having this event on your calendar that you could pinpoint a return date and something to work towards.
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, whenever you go do something like that, you want to have a goal, and my goal was to be here. Unfortunately when I came out of surgery, I had a little bit more of a complication in my surgery in the sense of the hip, I had a couple microfractures that caused me to be on crutches three to four weeks longer than expected which sort of put this tournament in a little bit of possible jeopardy.
But the team I have around me, Sophie, my PT, Alex, my trainer, and then everyone else at Howard Head Sports Medicine, they did great, and getting me to the position that I can be in to play this week and feel like I'm very competitive to play.
Q. Knowing that you probably not a hundred per cent, yet you feel like you can be competitive, can you be competitive enough to win?
BILLY HORSCHEL: (Pausing before answering) Yes, I am. I was hesitant to answer that because I've got to keep everything in check. I haven't played competitive golf for five months. I understand there's a little bit of rust there but I feel like there's a lot of good in my game.
I am not trying put too much pressure or expectations on myself this week or really the REST of the fall. I'm just trying to build my way back into competitive golf, build my way back into walking a tournament and getting any rust of the game off to be able to hit the ground running in '26.
But I do feel like there's enough good in my game right now, and I feel like I can have that for 72 holes, that there's a good chance come Sunday I'll be in a good position to hopefully challenge for another victory here.
Q. Can you give us an idea of when you started hitting balls? Were you on a regimen that you could hit so many and so forth and so on? And can you give us an understanding of how far you hit the ball now versus where you were before and how long it's going to take you to get back to those numbers?
BILLY HORSCHEL: So I started chipping, putting, late June. I didn't really have a lot of motivation to start practising just to go chip-and-putt.
Started hitting balls officially after -- a few days after July 4th. Could only hit about, you know, 40, 50 balls, up to about mid-irons for about a week or so or ten days. Slowly worked my way up from short irons to mid-irons to longer clubs and woods, and first time I hit a driver was right around July 28, 29. I probably did everything a little bit quicker than I was told to do it. But I felt where my hip was and I felt I could, you know, be smart enough not to overdo something.
So no, I'm not on any regimen now. I think by sort of -- saw my doctor around August 4th for my three-month checkup. They were very impressed with all the physical therapy that I have done and the strength and the range of motion that Sophie has done an unbelievable job getting me back to.
From there, I believe there was no further restrictions and I can start practising and getting at it a bit more in how many balls I can hit in a day and not restrict myself. But I still had to be aware of where the hip was every day, if it was a little tight or inflamed, only three months after surgery. This is why I don't feel like I lost anything. I feel like if anything I'm a little bit longer maybe.
But when it comes to long clubs and the woods, I'm still probably three or four miles per hour off of what my numbers were before surgery. The hip just, like I said, it still needs to build strength and still needs to build it to explosiveness, and it's getting there day-by-day. I do believe when the adrenaline kicks in this week, it will be pretty equal to what I normally am used to. But at home, it's been a couple miles per hour off.
I think by January 1st, I believe I will have those numbers, or hopefully a little bit faster because of the hip, and giving myself -- like he gave me a little bit more range of motion in the right hip which allows me to turn a little bit better and more into the right hip. He's hoping I gained about two or three miles per hour with my driver swing. I would love that if that happens.
But yeah, I think it's been a process. Like I said we are still not a hundred per cent, but day-by-day we're getting closer and I think over the next couple months, we will achieve where we want to be going into '26.
Q. When you won here last year, the Ryder Cup was a goal for you, and obviously that was all taken away from you. How much did that hurt and how motivated are you for the future to get back?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, unfortunately the hip really came out of nowhere. Nothing, I've never had any pain or anything there and just popped up out of nowhere after RBC Hilton Head.
After I got my scan and saw the doctor, there was odds I could manage a couple more months to be able to make the Ryder Cup Team.
Unfortunately my personality, once I know there's something that needs to be fixed I want to fix it right way. At the same time, if I did try to play on it I felt like at a certain point in time, there was going to be diminishing returns. I wasn't going to be able to practise much, the way I train, everything else was going to have to sort of be tweaked a little bit to maintain the hip.
I felt like at some point in time, the returns weren't going to be worth the rewards anymore and I felt like it was smart to get it done now. Like I said, it was a tough decision because I was in a decent spot to try to make the Ryder Cup Team because I've never been on it.
Obviously I've never been on the Ryder Cup Team as everyone is well aware of, but I've always had the mindset of, you know, there's something always good, something from this is going to happen. Something great is going to happen. When I played bad in '23, obviously was a bad year for me, but I felt like if I worked hard and did the right things I was going to be rewarded for it down the road.
I feel like there's something major hopefully in store for me over the next 12 to 24 months, and when that happens, I'll be looking back at this like it was a blessing in disguise and did the right thing.
Q. More medical stuff. Did you talk hips with Andy Murray at all and what did you make of his game?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, Andy, we talked a little bit about the hip and asked me what the issue was and obviously he told me what his issue was. Yeah we talked briefly about it. I think Andy, he played a little bit very briefly but over the last year his game is pretty good for the amount of time he's been in the game of golf.
Gareth, I've been around Gareth a little bit, and Gareth is a really good player. He hits it a long way and has really good touch with his putter. Listen, I think everyone knows he's one of the better athletes in the game of golf that play another sport that also plays golf. He's pretty good.
Q. What was the injury?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Mine was a torn labrum, hip impingement, bone on bone. Had to shave it down. Like I said, I had two microfractured that they had to take care of when they got in there.
Q. What do you think of Potter?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Potter, I like him, you have to give him time. I think what he did at Brighton was pretty good. Obviously at Chelsea he had a hard time there but I think he's a really good manager.
I think tactically, the way the guys are really cohesive -- I had the fortune to be around the team at the end of July in Atlanta for a few days when they were there for preseason, and I think Potter and his staff, it's really good. I think in time, the first couple games didn't go our way. Hopefully this Sunday we can continue to roll with the momentum.
Q. Wanted to get your thoughts on how well positioned you think this U.S. side are going into the Ryder Cup and who in particular you think will shine at Bethpage?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, we've got some rookies on the team, obviously Cam Young and Ben Griffin, and Russell Henry is obviously a rookie but he played well last year in The Presidents Cup team.
Listen, on paper, you know, for many years, we know the U.S. side may be the strongest side but many a time The European Team has come out. This is going to be a very difficult Ryder Cup for everyone involved, especially the European side because of the New York fans. Obviously they bring a lot of support and they are very boisterous.
But as any American fans know, they can be a little bit rude at times, and hopefully it's a little bit more respectful. But I think it's going to be a great Ryder Cup. I think the U.S. side is positioned well.
I think when I'm looking at guys, our studs need to step up. Scottie Scheffler needs to step up. Xander needs to step up. J.T. needs to step up. Patrick Cantlay, he needs to play the way he normally does. If those four guys play to their ability and get points, it's going to be a very difficult Ryder Cup for the European side.
But I think history shows you need your stars to shine and collect points, and I think if those guys do it, like similar to the European side, Rory McIlroys and Jon Rahms and Ludwigs and stars of that team show up, it's going to be tough for the persons. It's going to be a great Ryder Cup. I'm looking forward to it. Bethpage is a beautiful venue. Like I said, everyone involved, it's going to be pretty exciting. As a golf fan, I hope it comes down to Sunday and that would be even more epic.
Q. The Europeans are going 11 out of 12 from Rome, how significant might that be, the experience and the continuity?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think The European Team has always been a tighter-knit team than the American Team. The Americans, from my perspective, I have not been in the team room, I think the press gives them a little bit of a harder time because they are not as close, they are close but it's a completely different level at the European side.
Talking to Shane Lowry he told me they were flying over there to spend the week in New York, do a little bit practise session and hang out and play some golf. Listen, that goes a long way. I think that's an under valued thing is when the team feels very close and very connected and everyone feels like they are all together for one goal. All the egos are left at the door, as I know The European Team has talked about before.
Yeah, it's a benefit to be with your teammates and get ready to go into battle into what is going to be a very hostile environment and try and come together and sort of prepare and talk about what you're going to expect at the team competition out on the golf course and how you're going to handle it, and if anything arises, what are we going to do as team. Yeah, the more time you can spend around your teammates, I think the better.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports