A Horschel of a winning color
[Your Name Here] Writing from Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Here is how you go out and win the BMW Championship six days after after you fatted a 6-iron into the gunch and took yourself out of a shot at a trophy in Boston:
1. You par the last 11 holes.
2. You watch your closest pursuers, including the top-ranked player in the world and various pretenders to his crown, blow up down the stretch.
Not a likely scenario, you say? Too many chances for someone to go wild on the scoreboard?
Well, it worked on Sunday for Billy Horschel. He scored 1-under-par 69 for a total of 14-under-par 266 and a two-stroke victory over Bubba Watson, who didn’t quite bring Cherry Hills Country Club to its knees with his altitude-influenced length.
The saving grace for Horschel was that while there were low rounds galore on Sunday – 45 of the 66 remaining players were under the par of 70 – the lowest rounds came from those too far back to challenge. A course-record tying 62 from Russell Knox. A 63 from Morgan Hoffman following a Saturday 62, which got him into next week’s chase for the bullion in Atlanta. And 66s from the likes of Watson, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott and Rory “Four Putt” McIlroy. Yes, he did it again on Sunday, and again on the 12th hole.
Watson might have challenged had he not bogeyed the first and ninth holes. He was close at the finish only because he birdied the 16th and 17th. Hoffman finished third at 11-under 269 because he played the last 13 holes in 8-under, but a bogey and double-bogey in his first five holes prevented him from forcing the issue.
Those who had that chance squandered it. Ryan Palmer, three back at dawn, and who tied Horschel briefly on the front nine, played his last seven holes in 5-over, finished with a 71, and stumbled into a tie for fourth at 9-under 271. U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, also in the final threesome, slept his way to a 73. Sergio Garcia was in the chase until the par-5 17th hole, where he landed in the rough behind the island green with his third shot, then rolled his overcooked pitch into the water. He made an 8. And McIlroy, the world’s top-ranked player, followed Saturday’s four-putt triple bogey 6 on the par-3 12th with a four-putt double-bogey 5. So much for hitting the green in regulation.
Where was Horschel during all this? Serenely making par after par, 11 in a row to finish after a birdie on the par-4 seventh. The man didn’t three-putt all week, a big reason he ranked first in putting.
“I sure didn’t make it as easy as I would have loved,” Horschel said. “But I was able to grind something out and get a victory at the end of the day.”
Which was the point of the exercise. Aside from a photo session with an old trophy and $1.44 million to shove in his pocket, he also moves to the No. 2 spot in the point standings. A win next week in the Tour Championship, and he collects the $10 million FedEx is putting up for first spot.
It was quite the turnaround from the bobble in Boston.
“That never crossed my mind,” Horschel said. “I guess you say it’s redemption, but I was coming from behind (there).”
Here, nobody could surpass him. A 22-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh following a bogey on the sixth put him back into the lead. Palmer nipped at his heels for a time, but his bogey on the 12th and double on the 13th took him out of the picture.
Garcia was two back with two to play until his improbable snowman meltdown on the 548-yard 17th. Into the water with the fourth shot was not something anyone contemplated.
“It’s what happens when you’re not just mentally sharp,” Garcia said, slyly referencing the four-week playoff grind – though he skipped last week. “If I was mentally sharp, if I was rested, the way I was at the beginning and the middle of the year, I would have talked myself into going for the green (on the second shot). Then just a mistake after another mistake.
“At least if I’m up there, that’s what is important.”
Watson ended up up there with a third straight 66. His back nine of 4-under 36 was only surpassed among the top finishers by Hoffman’s 6-under 30.
“I turned it around,” Watson said.
All except his putting. He took 119 putts, compared to Horschel’s 113.
“You’re going to have weeks like that,” Watson said. “I had a chance to scare him (at the last), but I missed it. I’ll take it. Second place is a start in the right direction.”
Just about the only run that was made was Horschel’s, up the hill in front of the 18th green. It was a 50-yard sprint by a man in need of relief.
What Horschel is not – at least at this writing – is a well-known winner. Over 111 Western Opens, the old carnival has had its share of lesser-known champions. Joe Durant comes to mind, only because he wouldn’t otherwise come to mind.
But, unlike Tom Watson’s breakthrough at Butler National in 1974, this isn’t Horschel’s first victory. He won in New Orleans last year. This victory, though, is bigger, thanks to the bonuses: the shot at the $10 million bonus, the automatic berths in the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open, the exemption through 2016, and the knowledge that he can beat the best, even if he didn’t think he was playing his best. And for someone who wasn’t going to look at leader boards, he broke down and peeked.
“I looked on the 16th and saw Sergio was two back and Bubba was three back, and I liked my chances,” Horschel said. “On the 17th, before I hit my second, I saw that Sergio chipped into the water.”
All he had to do was play the last two holes in par, as he had the previous nine. And he did.
“It means a lot to win, especially an event in the FedEx Cup playoffs,” Horschel said. “Now I’ve got a chance to win $10 million. It’s another step down the road.
“I like my chances (to win it all). If I was a betting man I’d put some money on me. I’m not going to go ahead and guarantee a victory, but I will say I expect to play very well and expect to have a chance to win on Sunday.”
– Tim Cronin
Reader Comments (1)
Clearly i will win everytime/.