http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...chel-pga-tpc-preview-20130508,0,1403976.story
OrlandoSentinel.com
Billy Horschel is PGA's hottest player entering TPC
The former Gator has four straight top-10 finishes, including his first career win
By Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel
10:41 PM EDT, May 8, 2013
OrlandoSentinel.com
Billy Horschel is PGA's hottest player entering TPC
The former Gator has four straight top-10 finishes, including his first career win
By Edgar Thompson, Orlando Sentinel
10:41 PM EDT, May 8, 2013
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — Each day, Billy Horschel would make the short drive to TPC Sawgrass for The Players Championship. A couple hours later, he would walk away angry.
Horschel, who lived just down the road in Jacksonville, failed to qualify for the PGA Tour's showcase event. Yet, he could not stay away.
For three frustrating years, Horschel would go chit-chat with his fellow pros, watch them warm up or play and think about what could have been.
"Being on the grounds and not being able to play, it ticked me off," Horschel recalled Wednesday. "I was upset. I didn't like it."
No one really understood it.
"I wouldn't even show my face here," said Matt Every, Horschel's friend and fellow PGA Tour pro. "I was like, 'What are you doing, man?'"
But Horschel's agonizing ritual has made his arrival — at his first Players Championship this week and to the top of the Tour's food chain in the past month — even more satisfying for the former Florida Gator.
"It's nice to finally be here and walk the grounds inside the ropes and hitting golf shots instead of just walking around and watching other people do it," he said.
To play in one of Florida's highest-profile tournaments means a lot to Horschel, a native of Grant, just south of Melbourne. To perform in front of family, friends and members of Gator Nation is an added bonus.
But Horschel — the hottest player in golf — is not just happy to be at TPC.
Horschel leads the Tour with four consecutive top-10 finishes, including his first career win on April 28 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He leads the Tour with 23 consecutive made cuts and 220 birdies. Horschel also is seventh in total putting, eighth in total driving and third on the money list with $2,567,891.
Put it together and those desperate days of hanging around the practice range at TPC Sawgrass, recovering from wrist surgery in 2010 or teeing it up in Qualifying School four times, seem like a long time ago.
"All the hard work I've put in and the hours and what we all know it takes to be on the PGA Tour, it's just nice it's finally paid off," he said. "Hopefully I can take it to the next level."
Horschel, 26, could take another step this week.
His win in New Orleans, runner-up finish at Houston and third-place showing in San Antonio were against fields with a smattering of the world's elite players. But the field at TPC is loaded, featuring the top 30 players in the world rankings.
"It's a big week, but it's probably best if he does not see it as such. Easier said than done," University of Florida men's golf coach Buddy Alexander said. "He has to put those things aside and go play golf like he's been playing."
Alexander knows better than anyone: Horschel is best when he gets out of his own way.
The fast-playing, fast-talking, high-strung Horschel has been a combustible mix from the time he was a Florida freshman in 2005.
"He's a little hyper," said Alexander, the 1986 U.S. Amateur champion. "He moves quickly. He plays quickly. We tend to like that. He's animated, which we tend to like. But as a golfer all those things are not necessarily positive."
He may have been rough around the edges, but it quickly became clear Horschel was special. He immediately locked up the team's No. 4 spot behind three established seniors, including Every, and capped his freshman season with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships to earn first-team All-America.
Horschel left Florida a three-time, first-team All-American with four wins and 31 top-10 finishes.
It has taken Horschel much longer to gain a foothold the PGA Tour.
Wrist surgery in 2010 spoiled his rookie season; he missed seven of eight cuts to open 2011; and, even as he began to figure things out in 2012, he failed to finish in the top 300 in the world rankings.
"I was just putting too much pressure and wanted everything to happen too fast," he said.
These days, Horschel is on the fast track.
He is 49th in the world, a Tour winner and "playing like a top-5 player," according to Every. Horschel's personality and playing style — once seen as drawbacks — have made for great TV and endeared him to fans.
An outsider at TPC Sawgrass a year ago, Horschel is now just getting started.
"I think I've just sort of checked all the boxes of what it takes to be a winner out here," he said. "I want to be the best player in the word, and I'll do whatever it takes."
egthompson@tribune.com
Copyright © 2013, Orlando Sentinel
Horschel, who lived just down the road in Jacksonville, failed to qualify for the PGA Tour's showcase event. Yet, he could not stay away.
For three frustrating years, Horschel would go chit-chat with his fellow pros, watch them warm up or play and think about what could have been.
"Being on the grounds and not being able to play, it ticked me off," Horschel recalled Wednesday. "I was upset. I didn't like it."
No one really understood it.
"I wouldn't even show my face here," said Matt Every, Horschel's friend and fellow PGA Tour pro. "I was like, 'What are you doing, man?'"
But Horschel's agonizing ritual has made his arrival — at his first Players Championship this week and to the top of the Tour's food chain in the past month — even more satisfying for the former Florida Gator.
"It's nice to finally be here and walk the grounds inside the ropes and hitting golf shots instead of just walking around and watching other people do it," he said.
To play in one of Florida's highest-profile tournaments means a lot to Horschel, a native of Grant, just south of Melbourne. To perform in front of family, friends and members of Gator Nation is an added bonus.
But Horschel — the hottest player in golf — is not just happy to be at TPC.
Horschel leads the Tour with four consecutive top-10 finishes, including his first career win on April 28 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He leads the Tour with 23 consecutive made cuts and 220 birdies. Horschel also is seventh in total putting, eighth in total driving and third on the money list with $2,567,891.
Put it together and those desperate days of hanging around the practice range at TPC Sawgrass, recovering from wrist surgery in 2010 or teeing it up in Qualifying School four times, seem like a long time ago.
"All the hard work I've put in and the hours and what we all know it takes to be on the PGA Tour, it's just nice it's finally paid off," he said. "Hopefully I can take it to the next level."
Horschel, 26, could take another step this week.
His win in New Orleans, runner-up finish at Houston and third-place showing in San Antonio were against fields with a smattering of the world's elite players. But the field at TPC is loaded, featuring the top 30 players in the world rankings.
"It's a big week, but it's probably best if he does not see it as such. Easier said than done," University of Florida men's golf coach Buddy Alexander said. "He has to put those things aside and go play golf like he's been playing."
Alexander knows better than anyone: Horschel is best when he gets out of his own way.
The fast-playing, fast-talking, high-strung Horschel has been a combustible mix from the time he was a Florida freshman in 2005.
"He's a little hyper," said Alexander, the 1986 U.S. Amateur champion. "He moves quickly. He plays quickly. We tend to like that. He's animated, which we tend to like. But as a golfer all those things are not necessarily positive."
He may have been rough around the edges, but it quickly became clear Horschel was special. He immediately locked up the team's No. 4 spot behind three established seniors, including Every, and capped his freshman season with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships to earn first-team All-America.
Horschel left Florida a three-time, first-team All-American with four wins and 31 top-10 finishes.
It has taken Horschel much longer to gain a foothold the PGA Tour.
Wrist surgery in 2010 spoiled his rookie season; he missed seven of eight cuts to open 2011; and, even as he began to figure things out in 2012, he failed to finish in the top 300 in the world rankings.
"I was just putting too much pressure and wanted everything to happen too fast," he said.
These days, Horschel is on the fast track.
He is 49th in the world, a Tour winner and "playing like a top-5 player," according to Every. Horschel's personality and playing style — once seen as drawbacks — have made for great TV and endeared him to fans.
An outsider at TPC Sawgrass a year ago, Horschel is now just getting started.
"I think I've just sort of checked all the boxes of what it takes to be a winner out here," he said. "I want to be the best player in the word, and I'll do whatever it takes."
egthompson@tribune.com
Copyright © 2013, Orlando Sentinel
