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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONSNovember 5, 2014Billy HorschelSHANGHAI, CHINA CHRIS REIMER: We want to welcome our 2014 FedExCup champion, Billy Horschel, here to the interview room at the World Golf Championships ‑ HSBC Champions. Billy, it's the first World Golf Championship of the 2014‑'15 season. I know you've played a couple of events, you were in Malaysia last week, but just talk about returning to Shanghai and being in this event. BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, it was always an honour to play in any WGC event, especially one that rewards champions. You obviously have to win pretty much to get here. There's obviously other ways to get here but for the most part everybody who has played in this event has won a tournament in the last year. So it's a nice reward. Second time coming here. I love the golf course. I think it's a really great golf course. I was a little shocked by how low the scores were last year but I don't see it happening. I don't see 24‑under winning or whatever it was. The rough is very long this week and you pay the price for missing fairways. But like I said, I love Shanghai. It's such a cool city. It's my second time being here and the second time in China. The fans come out and they are very excited to see us play and root us on. Hopefully I can play better than I have the last couple events. I feel good in my game and I feel like I'm moving in the right direction and hopefully we can put it together this week and have a chance to win. Q. Since this is already your second time here in Shanghai, as an American, since there's a lot of metropolitan and metro cities in the United States, when you come to Shanghai, how is it different compared to those metro cities in the States? BILLY HORSCHEL: There's not much difference at all. Talking to one of my Pro‑Am players, they say Shanghai is bigger than New York City, which is shocking to me because New York is one of the biggest ones in America. But you can see how big the city is and how much it spreads out. It's 45 minutes to Shanghai from here, so this compares a lot to big cities in America. Q. Chinese fans are always amazed by the pants and colours you choose when you're playing. So are you trying to not only using your game but by the clothing and appearance to attract the eyeballs of the Chinese fans? BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think I like to be different. I like to stand out with my game mostly and then have the clothing be just a little added bonus. But you know what, I'm not a cookie cutter guy that is going to wear khakis and a white golf shirt. I think the game has grown and it's moved on from that. You're allowed to show your personality and your character and who you are as a person. I do that, and I like it, and I think a lot of fans for the most part like it, too, and it's something that it's different and different is usually a good thing sometimes. CHRIS REIMER: In Malaysia, you mentioned probably your biggest goal in the year is being the first one to defend the FedExCup. Just talk a little about that. BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, there's no one ever in the history of the FedExCup, obviously it's a brief little short history, to have defended the FedExCup. There's only been one other guy to win more than one FedExCup, and that's been Tiger, and I would love to be the first guy to defend the title and be the second guy to have two FedExCup titles. So that's one of my main goals. That's a goal that I will be mentioning in public when people do ask what my goals are for the year, and that will be the one that I talk about just because I think it's something that it's a big deal, it means a lot. And to be the first one to ever do that, it's history. It's ground breaking. Q. Who do you think wears the tightest‑fitting shirts on Tour? BILLY HORSCHEL: (Laughing). That was part of the chitchat out on the golf course. Wow, tightest shirts out here on Tour. I could throw some guys under the bus. Q. Go ahead. BILLY HORSCHEL: And I'm not going to (laughter). Just because there's factors there. But there's one guy I don't mind because he looks good in them and he doesn't make them look bad, Luke Donald. But then Luke will come back and say I wear the tightest up withes, where I don't think I wear tight ones I just think my sleeves are a little tighter than his but he wears a full tight shirt (laughter). Q. On a more serious note, there was a time where Americans had a knock about not wanting to travel much. How would you describe the state today, what was your outlook when you were in college with ambitions of turning pro, and what is it now? Not only for you, but how do you think it is for people of your generation in America? BILLY HORSCHEL: For me, I've always wanted to travel. I'm a history guy. I love history classes. So learning about other cultures, learning about other countries and stuff like that; I always wanted to have the ability to travel and experience different cultures, different countries. So I like traveling. I'm going to travel here and there when the right time comes and like I said I've always wanted to. I think some guys out on Tour just don't like to travel. You know, I know of five or seven guys that are top players that they just don't want to travel. They don't like traveling by plane, in America that's where they want to play, and that's fine and that's first deal. But I think if you want to be a global player and see how good you are as a player around the world, I think you've got to go and play in other countries and play against other players. I remember my college coach, Buddy Alexander, always said you always have to play different courses to become the best player you can, play different type of grasses, different type of designs, everything, to really see how great of a player you can be. When you do travel around the world and you're playing others‑‑ sure, this course could be in America but maybe the weather is a little different here, this and that. There are certain factors that every place in America and outside of America that makes the challenge a little bit different every time. And so I like to travel. I will be traveling in the future, and I think guys in my generation are saying that traveling is a big thing globally because we want to being global like a Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, LeBron James, Michael Jordan. You have to get out to other parts of the world where people see you firsthand. They see you on TV but when you come here and they see you, they are ten feet from you. That's a big deal for them and that's a big deal for yourself, too, and for your brand. Q. There is at least one more player in the field from China ‑‑ BILLY HORSCHEL: So Hu Mu and I played, we were teammates in college. I can't remember whether it was for one or two years. Hu Mu is a great player. When he was coming into Florida, he was one of the top FIVE junior players in the world. Obviously his time at Florida was short. It wasn't maybe as successful as he wanted to be, and I know it wasn't as successful as Buddy Alexander wanted to be or even myself. I thought this guy was going to come in and do some great things and help us win some championships, and things don't always work out that way. But he's a great kid. I think he's going to be a great player. I think he just needs to keep working hard, keep doing his thing and hopefully have success here soon. I talked to him yesterday and I know he's been playing a lot over here on the Asian Tour and everything. But you know, with him playing I think last week in the BMW Masters, too, and playing this week, this is a big deal for him representing his country. And if he can play well and do some good things, obviously it helps the sport of golf in China and it will also help himself in the sense that he could have a European Tour card or PGA TOUR card after this week. Q. Since you mentioned that you are a history guy, how much do you know and understand about China, and do you know about the Emperor kingdom, or would that actually drive you to have more interest and actually taking time to do some sightseeing in Shanghai and China? BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I know about the history of China a little bit, not as much as maybe America or the U.K. or France or Germany. So I do know a very little bit about China's history, but like I said, I would love to one day come back here when I'm not playing golf and experience more and see more of the history. It's something unique. Every country has something unique about it and China is one of those countries that has a unique history of its own, and to experience that and just to learn about that, that's something that I can see myself doing down the road when I'm not playing golf. CHRIS REIMER: Thank you for joining us. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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