Q. It was a year ago. Did you think of anything about that starting off today?
BILLY HORSCHEL: I've been thinking about it since Tuesday. What are you talking about?
I mean, every hole I played this week, I've thinking, God, how bad I played that hole on Thursday last year. So, yeah, the last couple days I've been thinking about it and even today, I was nervous waking up because, obviously, yeah, I've won here and I've played fairly well here in previous years.
But yeah, that 84 still lingers a little bit. I think it's just that one little thing that I just need to get over and to play well today, I hit quality golf shots, and sort of get back into, you know, I guess, hopefully, get over the hump of what happened here last year. Like I said, there is a little scar tissue from here last year, but I think hopefully I got over that today.
Q. Given that, I mean, how good does a 69 feel and really in tough conditions?
BILLY HORSCHEL: It's tough out there, it really is. The rough isn't nearly as nasty as it has been in years past. It's still long and still thick, but you can get some quality lies around the fairways and around the greens.
But that wind's swirling all over the place. We hit an 8-iron into number 17, three-quarter. You know, usually it goes 160. We're thinking it's got about 10 yards of help and it flies 181 and it goes in the back bunker, and I'm thinking -- you know it's just one of those days out there where the wind was blowing hard enough and it was swirling enough to make it a challenge. We all know how precise you need to be with your iron play into this golf course.
Q. Point being, you handled it well.
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I did. Like I said, as much as there was a little scar tissue from last year and I've thought about it the last couple of days playing practice rounds and the pro-am, I have to remind myself that I've had a really good year, my stats. Everything's been really good. I've played some really quality rounds of golf, I've had some good results, so more or less focus on that instead of the 84 from last year.
Q. Is that what made last year so tough, is that you had just won the year before? Like, in other words, like it was almost like a different -- like you're a different golfer or something, the fact that you struggled so much?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Well, I mean, I think any tournament you win, when you come back, you want to have a respectable showing. Obviously, the goal is to win, but you want to have a respectable showing as defending champ. Coming in, I had played some really bad golf. I had hit golf shots that I just haven't hit in my entire PGA TOUR career. So that was fresh in my mind and that was a concern coming here. It was just sort of the tipping point.
Shooting 84 when you're defending champ, it's just -- it was sort of the lowest of the low point for me, and then from there, I can start moving on, and as I've said this week and I've said since, I had talked to my team about where my confidence was coming into this event last year, but to sort of share how -- where my confidence was and share how vulnerable I was, just impromptu, after being asked a question, I think that next morning I woke up and I felt relief, just sort of getting it off my chest and everything, and then from there, I could sort of start moving forward again.
Q. What did you realize you needed to do, like, to move on from it? You said it was sort of building to that and then you obviously gradually started to get better afterward. Was there a technical thing? Was it just changing your approach?
BILLY HORSCHEL: There was a technical thing there. My lie angles on my golf clubs were close to 2 to 3 degrees off, which caused an issue -- which was the main issue and everything, and -- sorry, I had something in my head.
But technically, the swing was good, but the lie angles were off. So we figured that out last week. Then it was just some of the emotional side. It was like, you know, saying, hey, I've played some really bad golf this year and I've hit some shots that I'm not accustomed to and where I've been over the last 10 years on the PGA TOUR, I'm not where I want to be. I don't feel like I'm anywhere close to that.
So, I mean, to answer your question, it really came down to the lie angles, and then once that got figured out right before the U.S. Open, it was more or less just getting rid of all the scar tissue, getting rid of all the bad shots that I had hit from January to early June and replacing those with quality shots and believing that we can swing a club again.
Q. You said scar tissue, but after that, you kind of became more human to a lot of people. You kind of became a -- I don't know, a celebrity for being vulnerable. Did you get a lot of feedback --
BILLY HORSCHEL: I did.
Q. -- positively?
BILLY HORSCHEL: No, I did, and I appreciate it. I mean, the amount of texts and calls I received over the next week, the amount of messages I received on social media was overwhelming. I was so thankful for people reaching out and taking the time of day to sort of just give me a few uplifting words to continue forward.
I've always tried to be me. I've always tried to be -- I'm not any better than anyone else working a construction job who is working sunup to sundown. That's what my dad did for 50 years of his life. So I've always tried to be, you know, as human and as no different than anyone else doing anything else in the world except that we do something on a public stage and we do something we have to put ourselves out there on a limb and be very vulnerable on a daily basis and play at a high level and that's what we do compared to the majority of people in this world.
Q. Now you've won again.
BILLY HORSCHEL: Now I've won again, yeah.
Q. That had to be pretty good validation for, you know, everything that you've done to get back to where you wanted to be.
BILLY HORSCHEL: It was a validation, there's no doubt about it. I felt there was a win coming and I felt it was just a matter of time until I got back in the winner's circle and won again. But that win really, for me, was -- I say it was a thank you to my team. My team stuck with me. They have been great, they have been with me for a long time, and I ask a lot of 'em and they give me a lot. And so they stuck by my side. They were there the entire time encouraging me, doing everything they could in their power to be a better coach, be a better teacher. They don't get the recognition enough for what they do. But when you win, that's what they want. It's what I want too. I want to feel that validation too, but it's a validation for them for everything that they have put into it.
Q. Where you come in today and you know that you are dealing with that, now that's, I would assume, relatively done. Now do you see a step up to, okay, now I put myself in position, move forward, is that where you are from there?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think so. I think I'm in a good position with three rounds to go. Hopefully, I can just focus on hitting quality golf shots, be positive out there on every shot. As you guys know, this course requires a lot of precision. When the wind's blowing, it's even tougher.
I never want to get too far out in front of my skis, but I think I'm in a really good spot where I am mentally and physically to continue to push forward to this weekend and see what -- and do something special again.
Q. The lie thing, just to confirm, that was one of the things where you were changing equipment, is that right, and they sent the specs to somebody and they actually were incorrect and you didn't check 'em, is that what happened?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, so I don't know how it all happened. I left PXG in 2020, had some clubs sent to me from manufacturers, was playing some Ping irons, and then I switched to Titleist irons in 20 -- middle of 2021.
But I think what happened was technically some of the things that Todd and I had done at the end of 2022, my handle was coming in lower at address. Instead of having such a high handle, it was coming in lower, so the heel was catching more, which I didn't realize it. So Titleist wouldn't have known any different.
So only reason we realized it was when we went on the 3D GEARS system, that's what popped up, was the real big, wow, you know, this is the key, the missing thing or the problem. The lie angles were just too upright, which caused the ball to -- if it started left, it just didn't come back, and more likely, it was starting left and going left, and that's not what I want to see.
Q. You are not in here because you won that tournament, right?
BILLY HORSCHEL: I'm not in, no. So, Corales doesn't get me in opposite field. I was fortunate enough that Workday, Jack, and Dan Sullivan gave me a sponsor exemption. So very fortunate for that.
Q. When did you ask for that? Was it after you won or before?
BILLY HORSCHEL: We've had conversations the entire year with a lot of these tournament directors, sort of letting 'em know, hey, this is where I stand, this is -- you know, hopefully we don't need a pick, hopefully we can play our way in or -- you know, a multitude of avenues to get in. But I think the majority of us who were asking for a sponsor's exemption needed to write a letter. So we wrote a letter to Jack and Jackie Jr., to, you know, ask for a spot.
So, yeah, I found out a couple weeks ago that I was in. I think I found out at Wells Fargo.
Q. And U.S. Open is off Top-60?
BILLY HORSCHEL: So I got in on the U.S. Open because I was top 5 in the FedExCup that wasn't already exempt. So, obviously, the finishing at PGA, the T-7, moved me to like 63, I think, in the world, but it moved me high enough in the FedExCup to get in that way.
Q. You shoot 84 and there's a saying of, that's golf. How hard is it to really believe that and --
BILLY HORSCHEL: It is golf. At our level it's very rare that we shoot scores of that, that number. But at the end of the day, even though it's a big number, and it's a number that we don't like to see, and you very rarely see a number like that. It is just golf and you've got to try and move on from it. You got to realize we're always going to have really bad days, and that was a really, really bad day for me, but at the end of the day I was able to go home, see my wife, my kids, my kids could care less if I shot 84 or 68. Maybe my little guy Axel, or, my son will probably give me a hard time and ask me what I did wrong. He's at that age now that -- he gave me some words of advice this morning how to play the golf course (smiling) but, yeah, it's golf and we're all going to have good rounds, we're all going to have bad rounds and, honestly, what it comes to is wake up next day and coming out and giving it your best and giving it everything you got to try to play a good round of golf again.
Q. Did that help you in any way? Did it help you in any way that happening? It's hard to think that it did, but you said that you let some emotion out, maybe it gave you some perspective, I don't know.
BILLY HORSCHEL: It did. I mean, listen, sometimes we get caught up in everything and we get caught up in things that we can't control and you got to come back to what you can control and that is just try and get better at the game of golf day-in, day-out, improve, have a good attitude, work hard at it and have the belief that you're going to, things are going to turn around. So, sometimes you need to get put back in a little bit of the perspective mode to see what really matters. Results are one thing, we have good results, we have bad results, like I said, but it's more or less, work hard, try and improve, have a good attitude and belief that if you do the right things the results will show.
Q. How old is Axel?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Axel is five now. So he, he is, he loves golf, he loves sport, and so gave me some words of advice this morning. He told me how to play the par-5s. He said, you know, no one's making eagles on the par-5s when they're hitting irons into 'em, so hit a wood into 'em. He said, If not, then make a long putt or maybe chip in or hole out from somewhere. I mean, he is, he loves his dad a lot, and when he found out, he asked me last night who I was playing with, I said Will Zalatoris, and my wife sent me a video five minutes later after Face Timing him, he is on YouTube, typed in Will Zalatoris, watching all of Will Zalatoris highlights. And I'm like, Buddy, remember we played with Will Zalatoris in the Par-3 Contest in 2022. And he's like, No I just remember Sam Burns. That's all I know is Sam Burns. So he's a, he's a, he's full of energy and he has a zest for life at five years old is amazing. So, like I said, when you need perspective, just look for, look at your kids and that's all you need to know, have, see.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports