Fast-Talking Horschel Tries To Slow Down His Thinking at Memorial

DUBLIN, Ohio – On the PGA Tour he’s known as Billy Ho.

Fast talking, no nonsense, Billy Horschel is more like a gun fighter from the old West than a professional golfer that at any given moment can dismantle almost any golf course if he takes the time to think it through.

That ability to wreak havoc on a golf course has been on display in the first two rounds but was specifically acute in Saturday’s third round of the Memorial Tournament when the 35-year-old started hot and never let up shooting a bogey-free 7-under 65 with seven birdies over the first 15 holes.

At times, Horschel has made the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village golf course look more like a pitch-and-putt with rounds of 70-68-65, that included 14 birdies and a lone bogey in the first round.

“Very pleased with the work Fooch and I have done, not only today but over the last three days,” Horschel said of the collaboration with his caddie Mark Fulcher. “I think just going through our process, making sure we have a number where we're trying to land the ball, talking about the shot, the club selection, the wind. When we do that, it allows me to have a clearer picture and have a little bit more of a higher acceptance level over the golf shot. “

After missing the cut last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, Horschel initiated a discussion with Fulcher to discuss what they needed to do to be better.

It was clear from both sides what was required.

Horschel, somewhat of General George S. Patton personality, sometimes acts before thinking, by his own admission.

And while Fulcher is supposed to be the calming influence, many times it’s impossible to reign Horschel in and then bad things happen.

The worst part, Horschel knows his fatal flaw and at times still chooses to ignore it.

“I'm sure I'm going to shock everyone when I say this. I move very quick, and I'm impatient, and so I'm ready to go without always being clear on everything,” Horschel said of his tendencies. “Sometimes I just want to get the golf shot over with.”

Horschel went on to self-profess his idiocy for not doing what he knows works every time.

After his discussion with Fulcher at Colonial, it seems clear that Horschel committed to do a better job of eliciting patience.

“If I'm going to win the golf tournaments I want to win, and I feel like I can win, then I need to do a better job of it on a daily, weekly basis, especially when it comes to the bigger events,”

Horschel said. “Obviously I haven't played well in majors, which has been sort of a pet peeve of mine now for a while.”

While PGA Tour events are difficult to win, majors require an entirely different mental focus, one that Horschel admittedly has in spurts and not over a 72-hole span as required at the biggest events.

The hope by Horschel is that this week’s 5-shot lead over Aaron Wise and Cameron Smith, will not only produce a win, but a victory the correct way, with Horschel working in tandem with Fulcher before hitting the shot and letting the process take over.

The process is the key for Horschel as he relies on it and not the result to produce wins.

On the 17th hole in Saturday’s third round, Horschel was in between a three-quarter or a full 7-iron.

In discussions with Fulcher, they jointly decided that with the wind slightly in, it made sense to hit a three-quarter 7-iron, but once Horschel got over the ball, he was concerned about the shot, backed off and the player/caddie combination discussed it further and they decided that a full 7-iron was the prudent move.

“If we were playing this hole, where would we want to miss it?” Horschel said recalling the discussion with Fulcher. “And it would be behind the pin and not short. And so, he was like I love the full seven just nice and smooth, hit it up in the air and so that just gave me that little extra 5% commitment 5% clarity that allowed me to make a really good swing and then accept whatever happened from there.”

Process over results.

Horschel talked about process in a similar situation at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Tied for the lead with Talor Gooch, Horschel espoused the need for patience and process, but in the end shot 3-over 75 and lost by a shot to Scottie Scheffler

“I've got to do a really good job of controlling my emotions more and not getting ahead of myself,” Horschel said after the third round of the Arnold Palmer. “And really the goal is just try to enjoy the process tomorrow, enjoy what tomorrow is going to be about. When I do that, I seem to handle the situation very well.”

Horschel hasn’t won a stroke-play event on the PGA Tour since a playoff win in the 2017 at the AT&T Byron Nelson over Jason Day but has captured the 2021 BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 2018 with teammate Scott Piercy and the 2021 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

“We're going to hit the golf shots that are required, and I know if we do that it's going to give me the best chance to be victorious come tomorrow,” Horschel said. “I've been doing this for 13 years now out here, so I think I should have a pretty clear understanding of what I need to do and the feelings and the emotions I'm going to have tomorrow.”