Billy Horschel In Tears After Opening-Round 84: "My Confidence Is The Lowest It's Been In My Entire Career"

Billy Horschel's game is not in a good place. Not at all. And that's a tough position for him to be in, because he's the defending champion at this week's Memorial Tournament—one of the biggest events on the PGA Tour, on a very difficult golf course in Muirfield Village, and hosted by Jack Nicklaus. He wants to play well every week, but you always want to put up a respectable title defense. Especially in front of Jack. But the game is simply not cooperating. 

Horschel, 36, shot an embarrassing opening-round 84 on Thursday. There were six bogeys, three double bogeys and zero birdies. That's hard to believe from the world No. 35, even if more advanced metrics say he's playing at a much lower level this year. Data Golf pegs his current level at No. 109. But still, this was a low point. And he knows it. 

After the round, Horschel was asked in so many words to comment on his shitty play. He needed a full 20 seconds before he was ready to respond, with tears welling in his eyes. Here's the full exchange. 

Q. You're a pro. That said, how hard is it when it starts to snowball to keep your composure? I mean, not necessarily, you know, demonstrative, but just mentally, between the ears, all of it, how hard is that to, especially, I know -- I think you were on the clock and that adds to it. 

BILLY HORSCHEL: "Yeah, I mean, listen, I'm making a big number on every single hole it seems like. I'm struggling every hole. Listen, the group in front of us played quick and we got, I was taking a lot of extra shots than what we normally would do. I mean, we got warned at number 13, but we I think we were back in position by number 15 tee. They were still on the hole when we got there. So, yeah, listen, my confidence is the lowest it's been in my entire career. I think ever in my entire golf career. So it's funny, as low as it feels, it feels like I'm not that far off at the same time. Which is insane to see when you see me shoot 84 today. It doesn't, it wouldn't make sense to a lot of people. But I don't think I'm that far off. I just need, I need the swing to be a little bit better, I need to do a few more things a little bit better. I just need to see a few more quality golf shots and that's just what I haven't had. And it's tough when you come to a course like this and you need to be precise tee to green and I'm not really precise right now from tee to green. Around the greens I put myself in awful positions trying to get up-and-down. And my putting's tried to bail me out as much as it can. But, yeah, it's a challenge out there, there's no doubt about it. But like I said, I'll keep plugging away and I'll keep pushing forward and I'll keep grinding hard I'll keep working hard and hopefully it (expletive) comes around soon. Sorry."

You gotta appreciate the honesty and the vulnerability—and his willingness to call out some other players who throw in the towel when they're trudging through a nightmarish afternoon. And he's right. On Thursday, Dylan Frittelli withdrew from the tournament "due to illness" after playing the first 15 holes in 14 over par. That's the easy thing to do: blame it on something else, pack your bags and get the hell out of there. But Horschel's not about to do that. Not any week, and certainly not as the defending champion. 

For all the shit he's taken—he's a demonstrative player, he's hard on himself and sometimes on his caddie, and he can be a bit of a hot head out there—no one can question his fire and his desire. He came off extremely well in his Fore Man Scramble and he's been open and honest in every exchange I've had with him. 

You never want to see a player struggling with confidence to this level, but good on him for facing it head-on. Players are not required to speak with media after rounds. It's a choice, and he chose to face the music after his round when he knew the questions were going to be about how much he sucked. Not easy to do.