Horschel “nothing special” for 1st Memorial win
Billy Horschel watches his birdie putt from 35 feet away on No. 8 miss by inches. He would make the par putt from a little over 3 feet away. Photo by Mac Connor/Columbus Wired.
Billy Horschel said after Saturday’s round that sometimes he’s an “idiot” for being impatient and not listening to his caddie, Mark “Fooch” Fulcher’s advice on the course at times and that winning a “major-like” tournament such as the Memorial is something he needs to do if he’s ever going to get himself in the mindset of playing like a major champion.
Well Billy, it seems you were in the right frame of mind today.
The 13-year pro finally won a “major-like” event on Sunday by shooting an even par, 72, to finish at 13-under for the tournament and outlasted his playing partner Aaron Wise by four strokes to his first-ever win on Jack Nicklaus’s course at the Muirfield Village Golf Club and was his sixth PGA Tour victory.
Wise shot one-under for the day and finished nine-under for the tournament.
Horschel said he didn’t do anything special.
“Today, knowing the golf course, knowing how it was going to be fast and firm, knowing the pin locations, I didn’t have to do anything special out there. I’ve got a five-shot lead, I’ve played great the last two days, I’ve just got to go out there and continue to execute golf shots. Try not to do anything special (and) try not to do anything stupid that would allow guys to, you know, come back into the fold.”
Even though 21 guys shot better than him for the round, with the lowest scores coming in at three-under, Horschel’s 13-under score and five-stroke lead coming into Sunday’s round was good enough to literally stay the course to bring home the hardware.
His round included three bogeys, one birdie and one eagle, which came at a critical point on par-5, No. 15, which he said was the “icing on the cake”.
Horschel had given up three strokes to Wise, who was hot on his heels only two strokes back after Wise stuck his third shot from the fairway about 20 feet above the hole but got the roll-back towards the cup and came to a stop within a foot. Wise then tapped in the birdie putt to go 10-under and was now only two shots from tying for the lead.
Horschel, on the other hand, had taken a chance on his second shot which was lying smack dab in the middle of the fairway but still 239 yards to the hole. Instead of lying up and playing it safe, Wild Bill took out his three wood and went for it. The ball landed almost 53 feet above the hole.
After Wise tapped in, Horschel then calmly assessed the green and what he needed to do to get it close. His lie had about a five-foot right-to-left break and instead of getting it close, the ball found the bottom of the cup.
“Aaron played solid, made some great putts for par (and) made some great birdie putts but I think the turning point was right around there at (No.) 13. He makes bogey, I make par (and) that three-shot lead is back and established.”
Wise felt the turning point of the match was specifically No. 15.
“I hit a great shot. The way the crowd was reacting, I knew it was tracking right for the hole. It was just a matter if it quite made it far enough down the hill or not. But when they got loud, I thought it was going in. I thought that was going to be the turning point for me. Instead, it was kind of the opposite for me. It was a birdie for me and Billy holed a 50-footer for eagle. That was the turning point for him.”
It could have gotten worse for Horschel, though, on the hole before when he drilled his birdie putt from 42 feet away over seven feet past the hole. Fortunately he was able to drop the second putt in for the par. Wise had an opportunity to gain back a stroke but left his birdie putt from nearly 18 feet away to within a foot of the cup.
Horschel had parred the first five holes to start the final round but had a hiccup on par-4, No. 6 when his second shot from the left rough sailed above the green into more rough. His third shot made the green but rolled eight feet past the hole and his par putt stopped just short within a foot of the hole. He parred the next three holes to make the turn at one-over but still held a four-stroke lead over Wise who was even for the front nine.
Horschel then carded his first birdie on No. 10 when his second shot land less than eight feet from the hole and he knocked in the bird from there.
His second bogey came two holes later on par-3, No. 12 when his tee shot landed in the bunker above the hole and he duffed his second shot into the rough between the bunker and the green. His pitch landed four feet above the hole and he was able to putt in the bogey from there.
After parring the next two holes, then came the dramatics on No. 15 which put him back up by four.
He found himself down another stroke after bogeying par-5, No. 17 while Wise was able to par after putting his second shot from the fringe 50 feet away to less than two feet from the hole.
However, Wise would bogey the last hole while Horschel parred to give him the four-stroke win.
Wise said finishing second was bittersweet.
“It means a ton. This is a tournament (I’ve) watched on TV since (I) was a little kid. Walking off 18, shaking Jack’s hand there, that’s something you watch everyone do in the final group and I got a chance to do it.
“So it’s bittersweet but I’m very happy with the week I had and super excited to leave here with a second place.”
Horschel’s four-stroke win is the largest margin of victory since Ernie Els beat Fred Couples by four in 2004. Tiger Woods finished third that year after coming off of three straight wins three years earlier.
Horschel also took home the highest payout in the tournament’s history, $2.16 million. Wise raked in a little over $1.3 million. In comparison to just a year ago, last year’s winner, Patrick Cantlay, won a little over $1.6 large.
The win catapulted Horschel from 30th place in the FedEx Cup standings to No. 10 and from No. 17 in the Official World Golf Rankings to No. 11. Wise went from 59 to 27 in the FedEx Cup and 88 to 44 in the OWGR.