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THE MCGLADREY CLASSIC

October 15, 2011

Billy Horschel

SEA ISLAND, GEORGIA

LAURY LIVSEY: We'd like to welcome Billy Horschel into the interview room. You had an even par-70 today, and you enter tomorrow's final round one stroke off the lead. Your thoughts on your round and where you are in the tournament?
BILLY HORSCHEL: You know, today was -- started off great. You can't get a better start than going birdie-birdie. I made great swings on both tee shots and hit great putts, and the first couple holes I was feeling good, and I thought, man, this is going to be pretty low today.
And then obviously then I didn't birdie 7, which hurt a little bit, just chip came out really dead. I knew it was going to come out soft, but it came out completely dead, and made a good par there.
Then couldn't get a ball close enough to the hole on the front side to make a couple more birdies and maybe separate myself and get myself going a little bit more.
Made the turn, had another couple good opportunities for birdie, and they don't go in, and then obviously we get to 16, and that hazard, I guess the ball just wanted to go in the hazard, so it went in there. Just made a quick swing and it went left, and that's been my little tendency this week. I'm just getting a little quick from the top. You know, overall it was nice. It was huge to make that par on 18 with Michael being in there about ten feet from the hole. I mean, I was only one back of it as it is. I could easily fallen two, possibly three back from the lead, and I didn't want to be -- I wanted to be as close as I could going to the last round, and so to make that par and finally make a putt on 18, it was nice, and obviously Michael hit a good putt, and I thought he made it, and it just lipped out.

Q. You talked yesterday about how sometimes you have to keep your emotions in check. Do you give yourself a little pep talk at all and say if somebody came up to you on Thursday and said you were going to be in the final twosome on Sunday with just a one-shot difference, is that something you'll take every time?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Oh, yeah.

Q. You'll be in the same position tomorrow essentially as you were today.
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah. You know what, starting the day, I couldn't win on Saturday. No one can ever win on Saturday unless there's a storm coming in on Sunday and just washes the thing out. So obviously being one back of the lead going into the final round, I'll take it. It would have been nice to be one ahead, but to be in contention going into the last day, you know, I'll take it, because I feel like today was -- started off great, but it wasn't the round that I thought it was going to be, so it was just a mediocre round, so you're going to have one of those days every once in a while, and obviously that was it for me today, and hopefully tomorrow will be more like the first two days.

Q. Are you surprised that with all the low numbers that were going up this morning and early afternoon that you were able to shoot even and still be within one shot of the lead in the afternoon?
BILLY HORSCHEL: You know what, I didn't really look at the leaderboard, which is actually pretty good for me. My eyes like to wander a little bit out there. I saw Trevor shot 8-under, I think a couple other guys shot 5 maybe, but it's out there. It doesn't matter how the course is playing. The score is out there if you make the putts, and I wasn't too worried. I mean, it would have been nice to be 2- or 3- or 4-under, which I should have been, but even par is even par, and it could have been worse out there to me. Could have been worse. Could have been 1- or 2-over par coming in.
But tomorrow I'm in a good position, and if I just shoot a low number and give myself a chance, who knows what happens.

Q. It's been a good little run the last couple weeks to get yourself in contention to keep a card. What have you been doing well?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Just been striking the ball really well, something I haven't been doing since before my wrist surgery. Since I've come back I haven't really hit it that well, but since mid July it's been pretty good. It's been really good actually, and that's always going to keep me in it no matter how bad the putter may go. I mean, it's a little bit of the ball-striking, and I've been putting better, especially from inside ten feet. I pride myself a lot on making everything from inside ten feet.
I went to cross-handed about two months ago in Reno, and it's been a good change. I'm at least hitting my lines on a more consistent basis, so at least that gives you a little more confidence when you putt.

Q. Do you work on anything or just staying with the wrist thing better?
BILLY HORSCHEL: No, we haven't really worried about the wrist. We did some stuff when we came back from the surgery to make sure the wrist was a little bit more cupped at the top instead of bowed, puts a little more pressure coming down on the wrist because you bow it more. But that's about it. We haven't really done much. The same thing over and over with me is posture, and I get really quick with my swing. Simple little things.

Q. The putt on 15 seemed to -- did the disappointment of not making the putt on 15 affect your tee shot on 16? It seemed like you were running a little warm after that.
BILLY HORSCHEL: I was running warm because we would hit putts and we thought we had a good line and they'd break off, and you'd hit another putt and think it's going to break and it doesn't break. I went to 16 tee with a clear head. I knew what I needed to do. I didn't even know what happened on 15 when I got to 16 tee. All I was trying to do was I was trying to aim at the right side of that bunker out there and just hit a little bullet out there, little -- the shot I've been hitting all week, just a nice, straight ball, and just got quick from the top, club got way out over the top, and just hit it left, and I knew when I hit it -- I didn't hit it solid. I think if I would have hit it solid, it would have had a chance. But I might have hit it off the hosel of the driver, so that that ball was only going 220 at best.

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