Unpredictability is part of golf, and Billy Horschel knows this all too well. At the Memorial Tournament in 2022, he celebrated one of the greatest moments of his career by winning the title. But the next year, at the very same event, he endured one of his worst performances ever, leaving him in tears. Now, he is back on the Ohio greens, determined to redeem himself. His impressive first-round performance has already propelled him to T7 on the leaderboard. Although he’s moved past last year’s heartbreak, he hasn’t forgotten it. He opened up about what happened after the event and how people reacted to his emotional breakdown.

During the post-round presser, one question shed light on how Horschel’s honest reaction resonated with the audience. The interviewer noted, “You kind of became a—I don’t know, a celebrity for being vulnerable. Did you get a lot of feedback–“ The PGA Tour Pro replied with two simple words: “I did.” The interviewer then asked about the nature of the feedback, whether it was positive or not.

Billy Horschel reminisced about the amount of support he received, went on to express his gratitude for the same, and stated, “I mean, the amount of texts and calls I received over the next week, the amount of messages I received on social media was overwhelming.”

His last year’s appearance at the Memorial Tournament did affect his confidence but the motivation and encouragement that he received post-tournament helped him to persevere as he iterated, “I was so thankful for people reaching out and taking the time of day to sort of just give me a few uplifting words to continue forward.”

Back in 2023, Billy Horschel carded a 12-over 84 in the first round of the tournament, with six bogeys, three double bogeys, and not a single birdie. He could not hide his disappointment during the post-round interviews and he broke down in tears while facing the media, He expressed his frustration and stated, “As I said, I mean, I’m working really hard, trying to do the right things, and the team’s doing everything really well. It sucked today.”

The eight-time PGA Tour pro did not take any silverware home that season. So far this season, Billy Horschel has played in 14 events and has made the cut in only 9 of them. But his unwavering determination finally helped him break his winless drought, as he clinched his eighth PGA Tour title at the 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship.

Coming to his performance at the eighth signature event of the year, the 37-year-old even admitted that the thoughts of his past performance did not leave his mind during the Thursday round and he said, “that 84 still lingers a little bit.” Despite everything, Billy Horschel was able to keep the past behind him and focus on his game, which surely yielded a good result.

Billy Horschel shares his thoughts on his first-round performance

On Thursday, the rain made the golf course challenging to navigate. Billy Horschel recounted his struggles, emphasizing the tough conditions he encountered throughout the day.“It’s tough out there, it really is. The rough isn’t nearly as nasty as it has been in years past. It’s still long and still thick, but you can get some quality lies around the fairways and around the greens.”

Even after all the hindrances, he was able to card a sub-70 score as he ended the round with a 3 under 69. The 37-year-old not only spoke about his recent performance but his entire 2024 season so far: “everything’s been really good. I’ve played some really quality rounds of golf, I’ve had some good results, so more or less focus on that instead of the 84 from last year.” Will Billy Horschel lift the Memorial Golf Tournament Trophy on Sunday? It remains to be seen.