Billy Horschel had a brutal finish to his second round at the Cognizant Classic on Friday, capping off a tough day.
Horschel, who hasn’t won since April 2022, isn’t expected to end that drought this week at the Cognizant Classic.
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The 39-year-old from Florida shot a 69 in the first round but followed it up with a 73 on Friday.
Before the tournament, Horschel voiced some frustration about PGA National’s decision to overseed the Bermuda grass with Ryegrass.
Even though he acknowledged that the course was in good shape, he mentioned that he’d have liked it to play tougher than it was set up for this event.
Some fans at PGA National didn’t seem too happy with his comments on Friday either.
Billy Horschel explains what he said to a fan during the Cognizant Classic after being heckled
Photo by Oisin Keniry/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Horschel spoke to reporters after his round on Friday and responded when asked about an argument that he had with a fan on the 15th hole at PGA National.
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“Listen, everyone has been saying overseed, overseed,“ he said.
“It wasn’t the first time I heard it today, but obviously in that situation, I hit a bad golf shot and they wanted to say it, and I just said — I don’t know what I said. I think I said, Who said that, or whatever. A guy sort of said a couple more things and said I was bad-mouthing the golf course, and that couldn’t be the furthest from the truth. I’ve praised this golf course for many, many years. If I didn’t like this golf course, I wouldn’t come here and play every year.
“He had a few words to say. He wanted to share what his thoughts were, and I just said to him, I said: ‘Read the entire quotes from the last couple years’. I’ve enjoyed this golf course. When it’s benign it’s gettable. When it’s the way it is these last two days with wind blowing like this now makes this golf course very challenging.
“I just wanted him to be informed on that,” he continued before revealing what happened next between himself and the fan.
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“The officers came up to me after off 16th [and] was like: ‘We kicked him out’. And they’re like: ‘No because apparently he’d been saying some other stuff throughout the day.’
Horschel also explained why he tries not to react too much when comments come from outside the ropes during his rounds:
”But at times people may have opinions about us because they see us on TV for four hours or see clips of us or one or two things,” Horschel added. “And so if you have an opinion of me by watching me four hours out of 365 days – which is 4000 plus whatever [and] you see me in those situations where maybe my attitude wasn’t as great as it should have been – then go ahead.”
Billy Horschel addresses whether heckling impacted his Cognizant Classic finish
The American was in a good spot late in his round but dropped five shots over the final four holes to finish at even par for the tournament.
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Reporters asked Horschel after his round if he thought the fan interaction played any role in how he closed out his day at PGA National.
“No, I just — I played 16 nicely,” Horschel replied.
“17 was tough. Aaron hit 6-iron. Shane hit 7-iron. I hit a 7-iron that I thought was good, and it just rode the wind too much. I was in a very difficult situation to try and get that ball close. I couldn’t fly it on the green and stop it there.
“And then 18, I was just stupid. I was trying to hit a really hard draw, trying to ride the wind a little bit to really get a really good chance to go for the green in two, and I just made a bad golf swing, but it didn’t affect my situation.”
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“A fan affecting me out on the golf course will never happen. I affect myself enough.”
Horschel will be looking for a better showing on Saturday after Friday’s tough finish.
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