“Pretty abysmal” - Billy Horschel dismisses his own game ahead of the Memorial Tournament 2023
Billy Horschel knows his game hasn't been the best this season. The last time Horschel was at Muirfield Village Golf Club, he lifted the Memorial Tournament 2022 trophy. However, in one year, a lot of things have changed.
Since his win in June last year, Horschel has managed only two top-10 finishes and failed to make the cut nine times in 22 starts. This year has been worse, as his best result was a tie for 11th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He finished T9 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match-Play, but it is not an individual tournament.
While speaking at the pre-event conference of Memorial on Wednesday, the seven-time champion on the PGA Tour didn't try to hide the fact that he was struggling with his performance of late.
He said:
"The season’s been pretty bad, pretty abysmal, to tell you the truth. I haven't driven the ball very well. It's always been my strength. The iron play hasn't been great. It's been, it hasn't been great the last couple years.
"I've been playing from spots I'm not used to. Iron play hasn't been good and it's been putting a lot of stress on the short game and putting to make up for all the issues with the ball striking."
Horschel currently sits in the 108th spot in the FedEx Cup standings. For the uninitiated, only 70 players will progress to the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The 36-year-old golfer said he was working with his longtime coach, Todd Anderson, to make the necessary changes in his game and 'put the pieces' together.
"We tried to make some changes in the off-season to get better, and unfortunately, it didn't work, went back to some of the old stuff, and it's just, it's taken a little bit longer. But I'm starting to see some life, starting to see some more quality golf shots.
"My bad golf shorts aren't nearly as bad anymore. So, yeah, it's getting closer, it's still not where I want it to be, but there's life in the game finally."
Horschel felt his game was getting better since the Zurich Classic, and as per him, his performance at Oak Hill was good, contrary to the result.
"I hit some really quality golf shots. I'm still shocked I missed the cut. I mean, I had my wife and my brother-in-law and my team there watching, a few other people and after Friday's round we just sat around like shocked that we missed cut."
He had carded 71 and 76 in the first two rounds of the PGA Championship.
When will Billy Horschel tee off at the 2023 Memorial Tournament?
The Memorial Tournament 2023 will commence at Muirfield Village Golf Club, located in Dublin, Ohio, on Thursday, June 1. As one of the 13 designated events on the PGA Tour, the Muirfield Village event will have an elevated purse size of $20 million.
Defending champion Billy Horschel is paired alongside two-time Memorial winner Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matsuyama. The trio will tee off from Hole 1 at 12:41 pm.