SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 15, 2021

Billy Horschel

Waialae Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Great round of golf, so many edges coming?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, there was. I played really good today. Swing felt a little looser, especially on the back nine a little bit but played solid round of golf. I'm sure a couple more putts could have gone in but when it course gets fast and firm, you have to really hit it good. You have to hit your lines. And I was off with some tee balls running through fairway bunkers and everything but loving the way the course is playing and I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Q. Can you share your mental approach on some of those par putts you had coming in? You didn't look daunted at all. You looked very confident?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, if you see me at a tournament on a weekly basis we do a lot of putting drills and we spend a lot of time inside ten feet. It's sort of a competition that I have to make X amount of putts from certain ranges and if I don't do it, I have to redo the drill and I don't leave until the drill is done. Sometimes all the drills can be done in 30, 35 minutes and other times it takes 2 1/2 hours.

When I get on the golf course it just allows me to look back on all the prep and practice and sort of rely on that more than think about what this putt means or that par putt.

Q. Your assessment of your round today?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Today was a good day of golf. I knew the course was going to play faster and firmer and it did. Some of the pin locations were a little bit tricky especially early on and the wind was really swirly early on our first nine holes. Hit a lot of good shots, especially some tee balls I thought were good that ended up just in the fairway bunker or maybe just in the rough.

And then came to the back side and didn't take advantage of 10. For the last few holes the swing felt a little off, a little loose and sort of just grinded it out and was able to not at least drop a shot coming in, which is huge when you're up near the lead, when you've got a chance to win come Sunday, one or two shots can make a difference. And you can look back over four rounds and say, you know, if I would have just made a par there or made that putt.

So I did a really good job of hanging in there the last four holes to just keep it where it needs to be.

Q. When the leaderboard is bunched like this, and now you're two back, do you look at how many shots back you are or how many guys are in between?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I honestly don't look at either. I'm more or less focused on what I need to do. I figure if I can go and play my game, then I feel like I'm going to have a good chance to win. There are some good guys here, some good players. Everyone is good on the PGA TOUR, but I don't even know who is up there in the lead to tell you the truth. I just knew the lead was at 10. I think maybe it's at 11 now.

You know it's just one of those weeks where you're just going to sort of have to keep your head down, worry about your own thing and try to not make any bogeys and try to make as many birdies as you can because it's sort of going to be somewhat of a shootout because it's going to be budged up. That's my mindset, head down, blinders on and play any game until I get to the back nine on Sunday.

Q. Putting-wise, anything you're doing that's different?

BILLY HORSCHEL: No. I just think it's sticking to what Todd and I have always work on. I think I've been rolling it really well for a while and sometimes just don't make a lot of putts. I think the thing that's been crucial for me is getting my setup a little more comfortably. I think going to this putter last year in the two Columbus events, Workday and Memorial, has allowed me in my setup to get into it more routinely or most consistently, which is crucial. I feel comfortable over the ball and feel like I'm going to roll it on my line and hit it with the speedy want.

I feel like I've been rolling it well now and sometimes you burn a lot of edges and they don't want to go in.

Q. Did you make a caddie change late last year?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I did. I did. Unfortunately I let my friend, Scotty Vail, who caddied for me, just came on the bag at the end of 2019, made a change. Then I had a couple guys fill in for me. Kuch was filling in while frankly I was taking a little time. Then I had Travis Perkins who works Sam Burns caddie for me at the Masters. I just took a long time to think about what I want in caddie.

My team and I talked about it a lot and we were lucky when Brian Dillard (ph) was sort of brought to us through another caddie on Tour about possibly he may be someone who might want to work for me. Brian and I had a conversation December, and he talked a lot -- to people on my team and he felt like he was -- one that was up for the challenge. We've had a good two weeks already and it's been good.

Q. What do you look for in a caddie?

BILLY HORSCHEL: It has changed in my 12 years on TOUR. I've grown as a person. I've grown as a player. I think I've sort of now, this one, I really knew what I was looking for in a caddie and I wanted someone who works hard. I want someone who is always trying to get better every day at their craft and trying to think of ways to make the team better, whether it's myself or other people on my team how they can make their -- everyone on the team better because that's what my team is all about.

I just want someone who is not afraid to speak up. If we're not doing something right, then he needs to say something and just someone who, like I said -- the biggest thing is hard work. Someone that I can trust and someone I know who is always going to work hard that. Just put me at ease and I'm not the only one out on the golf course putting in the hard work and the other person is just sort of skating by.

So Brian has that work ethic, work mentality. Funny thing is we actually grew up in the same area in Brevard County. Our county's not the most wealthy county in the State of Florida so you have to sort of work your butt off to make things work and make a living for yourself, so we both have that. That was really one of the big factors for me wanting him on my team.

Q. And WGC México moving to Concession. Just your overall thoughts?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I had heard rumours. I talked to some of the execs at the TOUR. I knew probably way before anyone else, at the end of last year, that Mexico City wasn't going to happen due to COVID and everything. I think the TOUR has done a really good job of trying to find a course. I haven't played Concession. I just know it's a really challenging golf course and I'm looking forward to getting down there. It's unfortunate not to get back to Mexico City. That tournament supports us very well. I've enjoyed my last few years down there. The fans, you can see they have a zest for golf and are excited to see us there, and you see the golf sort of booming in that area. So hopefully we'll be back there in '22.