DUBLIN, Ohio – Billy Horschel opened last year’s Memorial with a 2-under 70 on his way to a dominant four-stroke victory. There was nothing dominant nor familiar about his performance on Thursday at Muirfield Village.
He bogeyed three of his first four holes, made a double-bogey-6 at No. 9 and struggled even more on the second nine, on his way to a 12-over 84 that left in 118th place out of 119 players.
“My confidence is the lowest it’s been in my entire career. I think ever in my entire golf career,” Horschel said after his round. “It’s funny, as low as it feels, it feels like I’m not that far off at the same time.”
The entire year has been a struggle for Horschel with just a single top-10 finish, at the WGC-Match Play. With just two months remaining before the playoffs start, he’s currently mired outside the top 100 on the season-long points race.
“As much as I would love to throw in the towel and not come out tomorrow, that’s just not in me. I’m just not one of those players. There’s plenty of those guys out here on Tour that would make an excuse about being injured and everything,” Horschel said. “But I’ll show up and I’ll go out there and give it my all like I always do and try and find something, try and play well, and move on. I mean, it’s a day and I’ve had plenty of these days this year.”