Billy Horschel had not won an individual stroke-play event since the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson. But he had won twice in the last year and change, in fact. And he showed the mettle of a champion despite his game being off during the final round of the Memorial Tournament to snare PGA Tour win No. 7.
Coming into Sunday with just one bogey over 54 holes, Horschel produced three against a birdie and an eagle during the final round which proved to be enough to hold off Aaron Wise. Not that much came easy over the final 13 holes starting with a bogey at the sixth hole.
Horschel made a big up and down on par-3 eighth to stay three shots clear of Wise then knocked a 9-iron to eight feet on No. 10 and made the putt to stretch the lead to four shots over Joaquin Niemann and Wise. Another key up-and-down on the 11th saved par and was followed by a critical up and down from 102 yards on No. 13 to regain a three-shot advantage. Then, after a wedge shot from Wise nearly found the cup on the par-5 15th, Horschel, who hit a 5-wood from 239 yards onto the back of the green 53 feet away, drained the putt for eagle with his Ping Sigma 2 Tyne 4 mallet, effectively ending things.
WHAT IT DOES: Two of the four models cater to the extremes: the lightweight, slightly draw-biased TSi1 and the meaty, low-flying, ultra-low-spinning TSi4. The two middle models are for most of the market: those whose priority is forgiveness (TSi2) and those looking for playability and shotmaking (TSi3). Fitting four player types is nice, but the really neat achievement was finding extra speed. That meant using a special high-strength titanium originally designed for the Mars Lander. The lighter and faster-flexing alloy (ATI 425) means more design freedom to create extra off-center-hit stability in the TSi2 and movable weight in the more pear-shaped TSi3.
Horschel wasn’t long off the tee, but he was straight (ranking 14th in driving accuracy with his Titleist TSi3 driver), a must to avoid Muirfield Village’s penal rough. From there he was mostly on target, leading the field in greens in regulation with his Titleist 620 MB irons with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts and Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips (along with some old-school lead tape on the back). He also converted 16 of 18 scrambling opportunities to lead the field as well, the bulk of that work coming from a Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks prototype wedge with a V grind that Horschel has bent from 60 to 62 degrees. According to Titleist, the V Grind is for players seeking a dual bounce wedge with increased bounce on square face shots, and enhanced relief for open faced shots.
And for players seeking their first individual stroke-play win in five years.
The clubs Billy Horschel had in the bag at the 2022 Memorial Tournament:
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (Fujikura Ventus Black 6X) 8 degrees
Irons (3): Titleist 620 CB; (5-PW): Titleist 620 MB
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM9 (52, 56 degrees); Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (60 degrees)
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