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Billy Horschel has been struggling for a while now. Having missed four missed cuts in seven tries, including two at Bay Hill and Sawgrass, the 36-year-old came to Austin for the 2023 WGC-Dell Match Play with high hopes. Sitting on top of his group with a Friday matchup against Jon Rahm, it’s safe to say that the golfer is finally finding his way into the competition.
Horschel had a good Match Play outing in 2021. The golfer was at the top of his game during that time as he beat the likes of Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, and current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in a strong run to the title. However, the golfer is currently at a different pace. Stating that it’s “been a frustrating start to this year,” Horschel is finally looking for some magic this weekend.
Speaking to the media on Thursday about his game, Billy Horschel said, as quoted by Golf Digest:
"It's been a frustrating start to this year. There's no doubt about it. Myself and my entire team has been putting in a lot of hard work and we're not getting the results out of everything we wanted... I sort of told the entire team, I said, this week is sort of a cutoff point. Everything that happened the last couple months is behind us. This is the start of a new season."
Billy Horschel remains optimistic despite bad form
It is pertinent to note that Billy Horschel is optimistic despite the poor run of form. The golfer even opened up on his conversation with his coach Todd Anderson about taking a break due to bad results. The American, currently testing a new putter (a Ping Tyne 4, after his old putter got bent) and a new ball (Titleist) at the PGA Tour event, said that he is finding ways to get better.
He added:
"We talked over the phone after Riviera, after missing that cut… and I sort of told him what I wanted to feel, what I love to feel. He obviously knows my feels being together for 15 years, and we just went ahead and built it around it. A lot of it is just trying to get back to some swings of '13 or '14...I'm always willing to try and get better.”
Horschel further lauded the WGC-Dell Match Play and said:
“I just need to play match play. Play mano-a-mano, got to hit the shot right then and there, not worrying about strokes, not worrying about score."
It is pertinent to note that Billy Horschel has a strong opponent in Rahm in the third round of the Match Play. The Spaniard has struggled in the event himself with an early loss to Rickie Fowler. However, he bounced back with a 4&3 drubbing of Keith Mitchell. It’ll be interesting to see how the two golfers go up against each other.
