PGA professional Billy Horschel speaks with the media following his opening round 68 at the WGC Mexico Championship about adapting for the change in altitude and distance.
PGA Tour: Billy Horschel speaks with the media following opening round at The WGC Mexico Championship
Q. This is going to sound like kind of a general question, but it seemed like it was windier today than what you guys have had. Would that be your assessment?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I’ve never — what is it, my second or third time here, and I’ve never seen the wind blow this hard. It blew a little bit on Tuesday afternoon but nothing like this, and it was a challenge out there.
Q. How does that factor with the thin air? I know you guys have a hard time dealing with that to begin with.
BILLY HORSCHEL: The great thing for me I think was when I hit balls on the range on Tuesday and it was into the wind, we were still just testing some numbers out and seeing that just a little bit of wind that there was had an effect on the ball, bigger effect than what we thought. So it was a challenge because if you hit it — if you launch it higher, the ball is going to go farther, but then if you factor in the wind to go shorter and you launch it too high, then it negates the point. It’s a challenge. Ryan Fox and I were just talking about it. It was really tough to get the ball close to the hole, and then when you do get a good club in and you feel like you hit a good shot, you can land it in the right spot and the green could be a little bit softer and it could hit and not bounce the way you’re suspecting or it could bounce a little bit more. It was a very challenging golf course out there today, and I’m happy that I scrapped it together and shot 3-under.
Q. Did you have to be a little bit more patient today than maybe normal?
BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think so, knowing that the wind was blowing. There was some really good pin locations today. I think even if there was no wind, you’ve got to be patient because you know you can go low here, but sometimes you can hit a lot of good shots and hit a lot of good putts and not get rewarded for it. It’s a little bit of a different kind of patience today, understanding that par is a really good score instead of where in the past you’re just trying to make a lot of birdies.
Q. Did you and TA work on anything special this week?
BILLY HORSCHEL: No, just very similar to what we’ve been working on since Scottsdale, the putting, just same thing, getting a little bit better setup. The golf swing, the only thing we did last week to improve on Scottsdale was just trying to stay in my right side a little bit longer on my downswing to allow my right arm to get in front of the right hip. I’ve been having a tendency or I’ve been doing it for a long time of jumping up out of my backswing, and then the arm gets stuck behind me and I hit some really bad shots, and I hit one of those on No. 7 today.
But there’s been a lot of good stuff. It’s still not natural and it’s still not without thought, easy to do, but we’ve been doing some really good work, and it sort of is nice to see it pay off. We work really hard and sometimes we don’t see the results, and it doesn’t feel like we’re getting anywhere. But since Scottsdale, since the Waste Management Open, it seems like the path is clearing a little bit easier.
Q. The PGA TOUR officials have said that they’re going to limit water on these greens now to allow them to get firmer. How much more difficult will this golf course get with firmer greens?
BILLY HORSCHEL: It’s pretty difficult already even with soft greens. I’m interested to see — 3-under par is leading, 4-under par is leading. We don’t really need to make it that much tougher. The greens are tough enough as it is. This is a very tough place to make putts. I think it’s the fewest footage of holed putts on average. Yeah, if it gets a little bit firmer, I think it’ll be a little bit more predictable with the ball, understanding how the ball is going to land on the green, is it going to land soft, is it going to land firm, so I think that helps us a little bit, but then at the same time it gets a little bit tougher to get close to the hole when the greens do firm up.
Q. Is it unpredictable now?
BILLY HORSCHEL: I mean, I hit some shots today where we landed it where we wanted and it hit and it spun back, and it didn’t take the bounce, and then we hit a couple shots where it hit and took a bigger bounce than what we thought. You know, that’s what happens when you play on poa; it’s like that on the West Coast. The greens are just that way a little bit. It’s a little bit easier when the greens do get firm and the entire green is firm. It’s a little bit more, I think, predictable to understand how the ball is going to land on the green. But like I said, vice versa, it’s a little bit tougher to get the ball close to the hole, and at the same time it’s a little bit tougher to scramble.
Mexico City, Mexico
February 20, 2020
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