WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 26, 2021

Billy Horschel

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Billy, can you talk about reracking and getting into the playoff? Was it easy to clear our mind or is that kind of the way you do it?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I was more nervous in the playoff than I have been in all my three matches today or this week. I just think when you know you want to move on and you want to get into that round of 16 -- I've had several opportunities over the years to move on and I haven't done it.

I mean, the one that sticks to me is being 2-up with two to play against Rory in the third round match at Harding Park and lose both those holes and then to lose on the second hole there at Harding Park to him.

I've had opportunities. I haven't really done a good enough job of closing out some stuff. So yeah, I was nervous a little bit, and I got lucky that Max had the door open the first two holes and didn't close it, and then I hit a really good shot on No. 3.

Like I said, I got a little lucky. I played really good against Collin; should have won that match. This match against -- this little sudden death playoff with Max, I got lucky.

Q. How did you spend the time in between?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I wish we could have gone right out and played. I really wish we could have. I know we have to wait until the other matches go, but I went into the caddie area, just sat down for about 20, 30 minutes, watched a little on TV, and then about 25 minutes before we had to tee off, just hit a few balls, hit a few putts, and went.

Yeah, I would have loved to have just gone right at the No. 1.

Q. You don't want to think about it, right?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I don't think it's so much about it thinking about it. I think you're just sort of in a nice rhythm or flow with your swing and then you sort of have to take an hour to 75-minute break before you go again. No big deal; it paid off.

Q. Kind of a unique feeling in that obviously on a stroke play event you could have a playoff on a Sunday, but here your hopes are just so precarious to get into the round of 16. It could go one of two ways. Is that kind of strange?

BILLY HORSCHEL: It is. Winning the first match means I'm in the driver's seat still, and then yesterday I didn't play very good against J.T. I gave him a lot of holes, and so I knew I needed to win the day, and I knew I needed some help from Max. Max played well.

And so yeah, you just never know what can happen out there, and I did a good job of taking care of my business and getting myself in a playoff, and that's all I could have asked for, and I was fortunate enough to close it out.

Q. Were you kicking yourself after yesterday's match?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, yeah, I was. I just didn't hit it very good. Todd and I were sort of just making a few more tweaks to the swing just to find that little special sweet spot, and so yesterday I think may have been a little bit of rust from taking a week off, and had a fun time with my family last week on vacation, but maybe just a little bit of rust, missed a lot of greens.

I think mentally I wasn't in some shots, and the short game was not very good this week, so I'm sort of playing away from my short game a little bit right now.

But yeah, I mean, I was kicking myself because when you have an opportunity like that, I gave him five holes. I mean, I made five bad bogeys and just handed him holes. At the end of the day when you look at that, you kick yourself in the rear end for that.

Q. If you can just walk me through the second shot on the last playoff hole. That looked pretty saucy.

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, we didn't have a great number. We had 153 pin. We've got to fly it at least hole high; if not there's a slope that'll bring it back. Ideally we were trying to land it about four past it, and so that's 57, and then you add in wind and it was probably playing around 62 to 65, maybe 70.

Actually it was playing 70; there was a lot of wind, I think was what we had in. If I flight an 8-iron perfect it's the right club, but if it gets up a little bit or the wind picks up, it's going to be struggling a little bit. So we had to hit a chippy, chippy 7 and I hit it and I knew I flushed it a little bit, but I knew if it just didn't fly too far it was going to hit that backstop there and come on back to the hole.

When I knew where it landed, I knew it was going to be really good. Yeah, it was a good shot and it was good for it to come back to where it did.