WGC DELL TECHNOLOGIES MATCH PLAY

March 25, 2022

Billy Horschel

Austin Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You can have a nice long lunch and put your feet up. How satisfying was that tie?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, it really was. Thomas came to play today and he played a beautiful round of golf. I mean, I'm going to guess he probably shot 4-, 5-under maybe, didn't make a bogey at all.

So when your opponent's not gifting you anything, then you got to be on your game. I played really solid except for two holes where I hit a pitching wedge in the water on 13, which is just a bad, bad swing, and then another bad swing at 13 with a 3-iron off the tee just trying to put it in the fairway.

But other than that, I hung in there. I hit some really quality shots. Some of them didn't turn out. I made some putts, which was nice to see. And knowing, being 2-down with two to go and knowing all I needed was a half to move on to round of 16 that's a really confidence boost to birdie the last two to get through.

Q. Have you ever been this relaxed? You seem so in control and everything's going really well for you.

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I mean, I've been this relaxed before. I think what people see on outside is completely different than what I feel inside.

Outside it looks like I'm maybe moving a million miles per hour and just all over the place, but inside I'm pretty calm and pretty relaxed.

But, yeah, right now I feel really confident with my game and feel really confident with what I'm doing. I know why I hit bad shots. I know why I hit the good ones. So I think when I have that or when any player has that I think it's just an ease you have because you know what you need to do to hit a better shot the next time.

Q. For you to advance so quickly, I don't know if you're the first one. I think you're the first to advance and you got a lot of lag time between tomorrow. Does that help too that a lot of these guys are going to be in playoffs?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, it's massive. What is it, just shy of noon, and so I'm going to go practice for about 30, 45 minutes, and I'll be off the golf course by 2:00 and feet up, watch all the golf on TV like every other golf fan out there.

Q. Is this course playing any different this year than last year?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I don't know. We had wind the first two days and I think the rough, I had a friend text me a couple days ago, and he said the rough looked more dormant than it normally is and I thought it looked the same, and so I said, I think you're just seeing things.

And then I texted him back an hour later after I somehow saw a photo on social media off of the course last year where the rough was a little bit greener and there was more of it.

So I would say, if anything, there's not much rough around. It's pretty dormant. So even if you do miss a fairway usually got a really good lie and you don't have to worry too much about judging it.

Q. Were you at all disappointed you didn't win and is Tiger going to rest easy now?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Listen, I had -- yeah, winning, I would have loved to match his record at 13 wins, but at the same time I mean, he probably would have came back with, I did it in an elimination format, which is a little more stressful, and even if I happen to win this week and tie him for winning back-to-back, I mean, he's still probably going to give me a hard time about, Well, I didn't lose any of my matches or tie any of my matches to win my two Match Play championships.

So, you know what, it's okay. There's plenty of his records that are still going to be never touched and this is probably one of them.

Q. Good company, though?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yes, it's good company.

Q. What makes you a good match play player?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I don't know. I mean, I think when I, if I was going to think of the ideal match play player I think someone who putts well inside 10 feet, someone whose all-around game is pretty good. They usually don't make too many mistakes. They don't hit too many foul balls or balls off line. They're always in control of their golf ball.

And then someone who just doesn't give up, doesn't ever think they're out of a hole, doesn't ever think they're out of a match. Even if they're 4-down with four to play they still think they got a chance to tie the match and they're still positive about it.

So I think I check a lot of those boxes off and I think, you know, I look at a guy like Kevin Kisner checks a lot of those boxes off and there's a few other guys. Patrick Reed's always a tough out in a match play. I know his game's not on right now. I played with him a couple weeks ago. I know he's struggling, but his game's coming around.

So I think those guys that just putt well inside 10 feet, that just have this never die attitude and just is always in control of what they want to do.

Q. How much is the Presidents Cup on your radar at all, if at all?

BILLY HORSCHEL: None at all. I mean, I haven't even thought about it, to tell you the truth. I know it's in Charlotte. I know it's in September and that's about it.

So I don't know. We're still five months away from, five, six months away from even choosing a team. So I still got to play well. I've been in good positions like this before to make a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup team and I just haven't played well the rest of the year. So my focus is to just try to play well and if I'm on the team, then I'll be very happy.

Q. Winning takes care of itself?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yes. Winning takes care of itself.

Q. Are the guys razzing you about your success here, going to have to rename is the Billy Horschel Invitational?

BILLY HORSCHEL: No. Listen, Kevin Kisner's won -- I mean, listen, I watch golf. I love watching golf. And to put a stat up who is won the most FedExCup points here and Kevin Kisner has won 974 points or whatever it may be, and I'm right around, I don't know, maybe 630, something like that maybe. So I'm still a ways behind him. I still got to do well. So, yes, even if I do win this week, they ain't changing this name.

Q. Being here in Austin, a place you've had so much success, we have seen quite a few guys hole some pretty impressive putts from off the green this week. When do you choose to use a Texas wedge? What goes into that calculus for you of kind of deciding whether you're going to chip or putt around the greens?

BILLY HORSCHEL: A lot of it just comes down to feel. I'm such a good putter from anywhere. Put the putter in my hand I have really good speed control, really good imagination of what the putt ball needs to do, and so a lot of times is if I feel like I can putt it and can control the speed and have a chance of making it, more than maybe chipping it, then I'll putt it.

And then there's other times where I just feel more comfortable chipping it and there's other times where I don't feel comfortable chipping it and all I go got to do is putt it and figure out a way to putt it.

Q. Do you have a memory of a beautiful Texas wedge?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I mean, I can -- I'd have to stand here for about five minutes to think about it. But, yeah, I mean there's probably a few. I mean listen, we're really good and the funny thing I laugh about is that these commentators are always like, Well, if you're trying to make it you should always chip it.

Well the thing is that the ball's so hard now and the greens are so firm and fast that when they played in the '70s and '80s they were playing with a marshmallow and the greens were softer and slower so you could chip it, you never had to worry about the one really getting away from you.

Now it's a little bit different. So that's why I think you see more guys choose to putt it just because you have more control because just, if they're just a little bit off with their chipping action they could come up 10 feet short or it could land a little too firm and not spin and it runs 10 feet by.

So that's why I have a lot of -- I'm impressed by people who can chip from off the greens from really short from 20, 30 feet from the hole, who hit these soft little chips every time. That's not something that I'm really great at, but I know what I'm good at, I know what I'm not.