|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL PRESENTED BY MASTERCARDMarch 17, 2015Billy HorschelORLANDO, FLORIDA MICHAEL BALIKER: I'd like to welcome Billy Horschel into the interview room. This is Billy's 3rd start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Obviously the 2014 FedExCup Champion and former University of Florida golf team member. So, right up there in Gainesville. So, with that, before we take any questions, if you want to just talk about coming back here for your 4th start and outlook on this week. BILLY HORSCHEL: It's always a pleasure to come back. I grew up about an hour away over in Melbourne, Florida. Not far for family and friends to come watch me. I remember coming to this event as a kid and watching it. When I was in high school they had a little gig where we come and caddy for the amateurs in the Pro-Am. Obviously a very special place on top of, you know, Mr. Palmer and his name being a part of this tournament. What he's done for this game of golf is -- you know, he was the first rock star in the game of golf. He took it to another level. Obviously Tiger came along and has done a lot since then but without Mr. Palmer, I think there's a lot of this stuff wouldn't happen. It's always a special place to come to and I'm looking forward to playing well this week. Obviously the results this year haven't been, you know, what I would like but sort of reminiscent to last year where I feel what I'm doing in my practice and what I'm seeing in my practice and everything it's there, it just hasn't transitioned to rounds of golf. It's transitioned better this year than last year. Still making a couple bad swings and missing a couple putts a round that's sort of killing me out there. I need to clean it up and when that happens I think I'll start playing some good golf. Sort of in a stretch where I feel really good with the course playing here, playing next week in San Antonio and then playing The Masters, Hilton Head, Zurich, Match Play and Players. I've got a great 7 tournaments in what is that, 8, 9 week stretch? I feel really, really good about what's about to happen in the next couple of months. Q. Who did you watch when you were over here as a kid? Who did you follow around, everybody, anybody, one, two, particular guys? BILLY HORSCHEL: You know what, I can't even remember. I'm sure we tried to watch Tiger a little bit. The funny thing is when Mike -- my caddy started working for me -- I remember one of the days, one of the years I came over and caddied, I was a sophomore, junior in high school. Pro in the group was Joe Ogilvie. His caddy happened to be my caddy now. When I told him that, I didn't recognize -- didn't realize that either until after he started working for me but, you know, I remembered when we came here a couple years ago and played, hey, you were caddying for Joe Ogilvie back in whatever year it was and I said yeah, I was the one, that stupid little kid, the amateur kid who thought he knew everything about golf. Sort of little side story I thought was pretty neat. Q. Billy, you had a front row seat to Tiger's chipping problems at Torrey. You had your own chipping problems last year. How serious were yours and were they -- was it tougher to get over mentally or physically? BILLY HORSCHEL: You know, it's tough to see someone of the level of Tiger's talent struggle but we all struggle in facets of the game and that's one area that, you know, I can always improve on is my short game, and last year we said we need to really improve my short game and just talking at the beginning of the year didn't chip it very well, got halfway decent with it in the middle and really bad with it at the end of last year. Lot of people saw Tiger, what happened at his tournament, Hero World Challenge, and saw the way he chipped. There was somebody watching me in China they would have seen a worse chipping display than that. I've had my stories in a lot of technique. I think that's what he's struggling with just a little bit. I talked to him at Torrey about it. Told him what I was feeling. I think it was similar to what he was feeling, the wrong technique and I told him what I'm trying to feel new and what got me out of that technique or the bad issues. I think once you start hitting enough good chips I think the mental side of it takes care of itself. You don't worry about it anymore. For me, it was more technique and just feeling comfortable with the technique and knowing that every time I do chip a ball I'm going to make the right contact every time. So, I think it's -- I think technique goes with the mental side of it. Once you feel comfortable with the technique the mental side falls right in hand. Q. That's what you guys were talking about on the range where all those things were Tweeted, do you remember that? BILLY HORSCHEL: Trust me, I remember. You know, we talked a lot about stuff. Pat was there and we just talked about golf swing, everything and he mentioned a couple things about what he's feeling in his chipping. I sort of opened my mouth probably, you know, obviously he didn't ask me and I just offered information and he was gracious enough to let me say what I had to say and whether he took anything from it, I don't know but I think, you know, we sort of hit on a couple points in the sense of just what he was feeling and then the same feeling I had at the end of last year and what Todd Anderson and I worked on to get out of that, the feel to have and what the technique should be and the feeling of the right, you know, chipping motion. Q. Billy, now that you've played this a couple of times, how comfortable are you at this course being it's so close to your home town as well? BILLY HORSCHEL: I love this course. I've always had a very fondness for this place. I know a lot of guys are on the fence about it sometimes but I remember playing it in an AJGA event and I actually got to play in some high school matches. I really like it a lot. I think it challenges you as a player. You got to hit the ball halfway decent here. You got to be able to put it in the fairway to play well.  You can't play out of the rough and hope to do well. And, so, I like the course. It's a course that fits my eye. It's a course I've had some success on. I played some really good rounds and bad rounds and the bad rounds have been a little too aggressive. It's a course you got to be aggressive in the right spots and other spots you sort of got to dial it back a little bit. Q. Billy, you obviously talked about the impact Mr. Palmer has had on the game of golf and this tournament. Is there something that maybe over the years that you've picked up from him or a conversation that he's had or even something that you've heard some of the other golfers say or anything that just kind of sticks out to you, a story or anything, advice? BILLY HORSCHEL: Man, it's tough. I don't remember stuff, that kind of stuff very well. I would just say I think from my perception, just the way Arnie is gracious to everybody, all the fans, gives them all lots of time, signs everything he can. He's very warm towards everybody. He feels like whenever you meet him you feel like he knows you right away, he wants to get to know you and wants to talk to you. Just that little bit I think has sort of -- I've seen that, tried to incorporate that a little bit whenever I'm around fans or anybody, just trying to make it feel like they're special to me right now. Q. We haven't had a repeat winner this season, actually going back to you winning back to back at the Tour Championship. Do you have any theories on there? I think it's 17 events now we've had different winners. Pretty long stretch. Any theories that you might have as to why nobody stepped up and won a few times? BILLY HORSCHEL: You know, back to back weeks you're saying, Bob? Q. Just at all, nobody has repeated. BILLY HORSCHEL: Okay. You know, probably just the way things are. You know, anything in life, doesn't matter, business life, golf, anything you have ebb and flows, you have ups and downs and stuff, and we may be in one of those periods right now where no one is repeating as a winner or anything like that and we're just in one of those low stretches where we have a lot of different guys winning every week which is great for golf. At the same time, you want to see guys, top players, you want to see guys continue to play well week-in and week-out and I'm sure we're not far off from having someone win back to back weeks or repeat. This is the way it is. It's tough out here. You know, some guys win one week and go the next week and it's not there. I know from my own personal experience, I feel like when I'm playing well I tend to carry it on for the sole fact I feel it doesn't matter how I'm hitting or putting, going into the tournament, once they call my name in the 1st round it's go time, I'm going to find some way to play well. Q. Billy, what precipitated your short game technique problems? BILLY HORSCHEL: What caused them? Q. Yes. BILLY HORSCHEL: You know, I felt like in college I was a halfway decent short game player and then coming out on Tour I felt like some of the shots I hit in college weren't very conducive to the PGA TOUR standards in the sense we played firmer, faster greens, some of the rough is longer, the greens we played you were chipping up to the green, lower than the green. I felt like I was halfway decent my first couple years out here and then I just forgot how to use the bounce of the club. I started using the leading edge. I think the grass out at TPC Sawgrass is very tough to chip off and it can make you look very silly and so when you're doing that, it leads you just to try to make good, solid contact and so you start sort of leading the handle too much and using too much leading edge which is good because you get to drive the ball low. When you got to hit something a little of the soft shot with a little bit of spin you got to use the bounce. I didn't do a very good job of that. So, just a lot of other things and me probably focusing more on my golf swing and not focusing on my short game. So, just a lot of things going into one and when we really looked at it obviously 2013 we wanted to take care of the putting and then last year, well, we got the putting halfway figured out, now let's get on the short game. And last year obviously the numbers weren't great. I think this year they're getting better in the sense of where I rank to every other player is not great but I'm around 60 percent and if I stay around 60 percent I'm a Top 50s short game player on Tour. That's what we're trying to get to. Q. Quick follow, would you be surprised if Tiger is not at the Masters? BILLY HORSCHEL: Would I be surprised? Yes, I would because selfishly, I want to see him there. I want to see him back competing. I want to compete against him. You know, if I happen to win the Masters I want Tiger to be at that Masters. I want the best players in the world -- and obviously ranking may not say he's the best player right now but we all know he's the most talented player in the game of golf by far. So, selfishly, I want him there. If he's not there, you know, that's his decision. I think there's other reasons why he's not there. He loves his kids so much. He likes spending times with his kids. He loves being a dad. Whenever I talk to him about his kids he just lights up, you see it in his face. I think he really -- that just shows you he loves being a father and loves being around his kids. Listen, hopefully he does come back and play on the PGA TOUR again but if he decides to do something else in life, I'm not going to fault the guy. The guy has done more good to this -- to the game of golf and given us more opportunities to other players out here than we could ever think of. We owe him a lot. Q. When most people hear the name Billy Horschel, they think back to last fall, what you accomplished. Six months later how do you look back on that experience and what was the first thing you did to celebrate via purchase or whatever? BILLY HORSCHEL: I had a kid two days after. That's what I did (laughter). There wasn't any time to celebrate. I'm not one to spend money. You know, it wasn't like I went out and bought a car or anything like that. We did wind up buying a house. That's because we needed a bigger house. We had a little one on the way and we had an opportunity to buy a nice house, and so that's what we did and I'm not one to celebrate much. I never have been. Not one to celebrate my birthday. Not one to celebrate -- celebrate some holidays. I'm not that kind of guy. I look at everything very simple in life and it was a great achievement but there's other bigger and better things that I felt like I still wanted to achieve in life and I've got a little girl now, Skylar, I love to death. Golf is not as big in my life -- it's not life and death anymore like it used to be. Q. Just to follow-up, does it still kind of boggle your mind that you had two 1sts and a 2nd in three events? BILLY HORSCHEL: Nope, doesn't surprise me at all. Probably surprised a lot of other people what I did those three weeks but I know how talented I am. I know how my -- I know everyone around me from Todd Anderson, to Mike, to my two trainers, Jeff and Randy and my stats guy, Mark, everyone who is on my team or everyone who is around me, they know how talented I am and how good I can be and that was sort of a showing little bit of what can possibly be done in my career, you know, if I just believe in myself a little bit more and probably be a little bit less hard on myself. MICHAEL BALIKER: Two more. Q. Billy, every time Tiger's topic comes up, you admire him just as anybody else out there. Has he kind of become a sympathetic figure? Do you feel sorry for him at all right now? BILLY HORSCHEL: I don't feel sorry for him. And it's not because I'm trying to be mean or anything. I feel bad that he's not able -- his game is not where he wants it to be. I want his game to be at the top level because when I do go against him like I did in Torrey in 2013, that was the greatest -- one of the greatest moments I had because I could compare myself against him and watching him play showed me what I needed to do to getter better as a player. So, it's tough to see Tiger play at that level like he has been but I said I have no doubts that, you know, he'll come back a better player. He always does and he's going to prove a lot of people wrong. You know, I mean I'm not sympathetic for the guy because it's not like I don't think -- if I thought his game was never going to come back, yeah, I would show him a little sympathy but I think his game will come back and he'll come back a better player from all this. It's tough to see but I wouldn't say sympathy is the word to use. Q. Follow-up on Bob's question where he's talking about there hasn't been a repeat winner, everybody says that's good for golf because it's parity in different players winning. Does this sport need a dominant player to kind of grab ahold of the average fan's attention, whether it be Rory or Jordan or whether it be Tiger coming back? Do you need a dominant player? BILLY HORSCHEL: You know, I think Tiger being a dominant player, he has carried this game for so long, I'm not sure anyone, one guy can carry this game like Tiger did. I think we need five, ten guys to carry this game. We need five, ten guys to play when they play to have -- to win tournaments or at least be in the mix on a Sunday to carry this game of golf. There's a lot of things, there's a lot of reasons why Tiger was able to carry the game the way he done, his background, how he grew up, you know, everything that surrounds Tiger. He was able to appeal to the masses more than any other player has, in my opinion. So, I don't think until we get someone with that similar background as Tiger and who has that talent that Tiger did, then he can carry that. Right now we need five, ten guys to carry this game and when they're playing in a tournament they need to have a chance to compete and they need to be there on Sunday, have a chance to win. I think that's how this game of golf is going to be carried to the next level until we have that one dominant player come again like a Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods. Q. Have you ever played, I'm thinking maybe your Walker Cup experience might qualify, I'm trying to remember how that all went down, what the tenor and tone was out there specifically, but have you ever played a round of golf and turned negative energy into a positive, played with kind of a chip on your shoulder? I ask this question in light of how well Patrick Reed has been playing, at the Ryder Cup he seemed to just revel at it and turn around and use it as energy. There's a lot of stuff going on in his life right now. He seems to float along and shoot scores and doesn't bother him at all. Seems like he feeds off of this. Is that a special habit being able to turn -- either tune it out or turn it around? BILLY HORSCHEL: He may have that ability that other players don't where whatever is happening off the golf course, you know, even possibly on the golf course he's able to tune it out and just focus on what he's doing that day in competing against the golf course. You know, my personal experience, when I played Walker Cup or other stuff where we had big crowds and the crowds were obviously rooting for others, they weren't rooting for me, I just -- it was -- I loved that. I love just the fact that they're pulling for somebody else. That doesn't mean they don't, you know -- they hate me or anything but there's a bigger fan favorite than me. So, that's just -- I just want -- in my personal experience I just love to win it. Like at East Lake, you know, the fans are great out there but you hear a lot of "Go Dawgs". You don't hear very many, "Go Gators." And for some strange fact people must think that's a great thing to say, "Go Dawgs" to someone who is a Florida Gator, especially when there's no Georgia Bulldog in the group. The first few days -- because Chris Kirk in my group. Because you just want to the say, "Go Dawgs", that's a stupid thing to me. Obviously when I won, it was spontaneous. I wasn't thinking about but it was a spontaneous moment. I've heard enough, "Go Dawgs" this week, Gator Chomp in here. I did the Gator Chomp. It was no ill-will behind it or anything. If they want to say, "Go Dawgs" to me I can Gator Chomp right back at them. No big deal. Just certainly players have the ability to tune everything out and not let it affect them and at least on the golf course. I can't tell you personally stuff how it's going with Patrick or anything but obviously professionally what he does on the golf course you can say has been pretty impressive if there's stuff going on I guess been bothering him. MICHAEL BALIKER: Best of luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|