Billy Horschel claims that laying his emotions bare in a tearful post-round interview has been one of the main reasons for his recent improvement in form.
The seven-time PGA Tour winner, who also won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 2021, shot a 12-over 84 at Muirfield Village in the Memorial Tournament back in June and had tears in his eyes afterwards as he admitted: "My confidence is the lowest it's been in my entire career."
The 36-year-old was visibly emotional in his post-round chat with the media as he gave a brutal insight into what pro golf is like when your swing goes AWOL amid a dire round which even included a double-hit. Horschel, though, has since made progress with his game and goes into the final round of the Wyndham Championship as co-leader on 18-under.
He reflected: "That interview, that moment, was sort of like a release. From that moment I've been in a better head space, the game's been going in the right direction since then. Listen, I'm not afraid to be open and share anything with the public, I think I've always been that way. I think people understand that about me. It's been a nice upward trend since that moment."
Horschel, who came into the Wyndham Championship at 119th in the FedEx standings, came tied 13th at the 3M Open last weekend and could now potentially even advance to the PGA Tour's FedExCup Playoffs with a good final round in Greensboro.
It would mean changing a pre-booked trip to the Bahamas with his family next week, but he is a lot more optimistic about his game since his public admission which even prompted pal and former West Ham captain Mark Noble to get in touch.
Horschel added: "A lot of people reached out to me. The one that comes to my head is my buddy Mark Noble. He's a West Ham legend and we're really close friends.
"He actually texted me two days later. He said: 'hey, sorry I'm two days late, but I couldn't write this text because I was so emotional writing it'. We are wired very similar in the way he played professionally and the way I am professionally and the way we handle things and care so much.
"He was like: 'listen, there's a lot of times I would come home and I would cry because we were playing so bad or I'd be doing everything I can to get the team to play at a higher level and it wasn't happening'.
"Just him sharing that with me, him telling me, which I knew already and I'm very well aware of, how great of a player I am and a person I am. Just those little things. Even though I may know that about myself, it never hurts to hear that from people that you love a lot."
Horschel added he has come to learn not to bottle up emotions, with the American adding: "My wife with her addiction to alcohol and mental health issues, I think learning more about that side of it. I've tried to tell people, I said: 'hey, just share it with somebody'. It's amazing how when you can just get it off your chest, you feel a little bit better about yourself that you're sharing it with someone. And you never know what happens when you do share it with someone.
"They may be feeling the same thing you are and they can relate and you guys can -- people can work together to. I think the more people can be more open about how they're feeling and everything, I think everyone would be in a lot better spot in mental health and a whole bunch of other issues."
