September 16, 2014 – Ping staff player Billy Horschel took the limelight from world No1 Rory McIlroy to win the biggest title of his career at the Tour Championship on Sunday, along with FedExCup honours and an eye-popping $10 million bonus.
Tied for the lead overnight with Northern Irishman McIlroy in the PGA Tour’s season-ending playoff event, American Horschel held his nerve to triumph by three shots, clinching his third career victory on the PGA Tour and second in two weeks, after the BMW Championship.
Helped by a clutch par-saving putt from 30 feet on the 16th hole, the in-form Horschel signed off with a two-under-par 68 on a damp day at East Lake Golf Club for an 11-under total of 269.
“I’m on cloud nine, it’s unbelievable,” Billy Horschel said after being presented with the Tour Championship and FedExCup trophies. “It’s just unbelievable, everything that’s happened the last two weeks, and especially having a kid on the way. I’m not sure life can be better than this.”
Horschel’s wife, Brittany, is scheduled to give birth to their first child in two weeks’ time.
The key, his new G30 driver in his bag…
When Horschel made the move to the 9º Ping G30 driver with the Aldila Rogue shaft, he was averaging 277.0 yards off the tee, ranking him T-103 on tour in Driving Distance. Since that time has upped his season’s average to 291.6 yards, and finished the season ranked T-76. Horschel is averaging more than 300 yards off the tee with the G30 in his bag, and won a pair of FedExCup playoff events as well as the overall title.
Horschel also uses an interesting combination of grips. On his woods and irons he uses Golf Pride’s V55 Cord with a rib reminder that helps him position his hands in the same place each time. On his wedges, however, he uses round Golf Pride’s Niion (orange color). Horschel prefers no rib reminder on his wedges because he needs to alter his hand position on this clubs to play a variety of shots.
…and his new Karsten TR B60 putter
Also in April Horschel ditched his Ping Redwood Piper S putter and added a Ping Karsten TR B60 in the bag instead. He ranked 91st on PGA Tour in Strokes Gained Putting through the Masters, his last tournament with the Redwood, but finished the season 53rd. The B60 made a quantifiable and immediate difference.
But perhaps the most important and lucrative putting change Horschel made all year was a subtle grip alteration that he addressed in his post-round interview Sunday.
“We just made a little tweak in the putter grip and allowed my hands to get a little bit further away,” said Billy Horschel, referring to his instructor, Todd Anderson. “It gave me a little bit more control of the speed of the putts. The ball started rolling better with the speed I wanted.”
Horschel was 12th in strokes gained/putting during his T-2 finish at the Deutsche Bank. In his consecutive victories to close out the season, he finished first in strokes gained/putting and distance of putts made (BMW Championship) and sixth in strokes gained/putting and third in distance of putts made (Tour Championship).
What’s in Billy’s golf bag?
- Driver: Ping G30 (9º, Aldila Rogue 60 X, tipped 1”, 45.25”, D4, V55 F/C 58 Rib grip, +3RH, +2LH)
- Fairway woods: Ping G25 3 & 5 (15º & 18º, Oban Kiyoshi Black 75-05, tipped 1.50”, D2, V55 F/C 58 Rib grip, +3RH, +2LH)
- Irons: Ping S55 (3, 5-PW, Ping ZZ65 shaft w/Cushin, +0.25”, D1+, V55 F/C 58 Rib grip, +3RH, +2LH)
- Wedges: Ping Tour Gorge (50º, 56º & 60º, True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue, D3+, D4+, standard length, Golf Pride Neon Orange 60 Rnd, +3RH, +2LH)
- Putter: Ping Karsten TR B60, 34”, SuperStroke Flatso Ultra, D5
- Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
- Apparel: RLX Ralph Lauren
- Footwear: FootJoy Icon
- Glove: FootJoy StaSof
