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ORLANDO – The target was a man about 400 yards away who was wearing a green shirt. Billy Horschel wanted his tee shot to finish in line with the unsuspecting man, and after a brief chat with swing guru Todd Anderson, Horschel slowly took his driver back, reached the top of his backswing and made a powerful move down to the ball. It rocketed into the steamy Florida sky, which at 10 a.m. was heating up quickly.
Horschel, who enters this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge ranked No. 35 on the Official World Golf Ranking, liked what he saw. That’s important, because Horschel broke ties with his sponsor, PXG, on Feb. 24 and became a free agent in the equipment world. Starting last week, the PXG logos on his hat and bag were gone, and that drive he hit Wednesday morning was with a new TaylorMade SIM driver.
“My team and I are always looking at how we can get better,” Horschel told Golfweek after his pro-am Wednesday. “At our level, the leaps and bounds are not as big as they are for recreational golfers and it can be hard to find that little quarter-shot or half-shot that we’re looking to improve. Over a little time, my team and I discussed it and felt there may be some possibilities with some other equipment that could help us improve my game.”
In addition to the TaylorMade driver, Horschel has been testing Titleist Vokey Design SM8 wedges this week. He plans to continue using his PXG irons and the Ping putter he has used for most of the last two seasons.
Pros change gear all the time. Putters come and go, new shafts are tested almost weekly and prototype clubs are often made available months before they show up at retail. What makes Horschel’s move unique is it comes just a week before the Players Championship and a month before the season’s first major, the 2020 Masters.
“I would rather have done this a couple of weeks ago,” Horschel said. But he added that making equipment changes now has some advantages too. This week he is playing his ninth consecutive Arnold Palmer Invitational, so he knows Bay Hill well. And next week at Pete Dye’s Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Horschel will be enjoying a home game.
“The Players is my home, I know that track and I’m comfortable with it,” said Horschel, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Since turning pro in 2009, Horschel, 33, has never been an equipment free agent. He signed a deal with Ping immediately after he finished at the University of Florida and moved to PXG in 2016.
When reached for comment, a PXG representative texted, “Billy has been a tremendous partner for the company since joining the PXG Troops in 2016. We are pleased and proud to have had him on staff and wish him nothing but the best in this new chapter.”
Horschel is not a fan of testing gear at PGA Tour events because there are a lot of distractions, but having access to all the club brands, shaft manufacturers and accessories makers in one place makes it convenient.
“Ideally, I’d be doing this stuff at home,” Horschel said. “I’ll do that going forward, but the driver testing is so crucial and you can do so much so quickly here with shafts and heads. Plus, these are all companies that I’ve never worked with before.”
Time will tell if Horschel’s gamble pays off. As the highest-ranked play in the PXG stable, he was paid well, but several golfers who play without equipment contracts have won recent major championships, including Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.
“My team and I said, ‘Hey, if we can get something for Augusta that could possibly help us put on a green jacket, let’s not hesitate to do that.’ ”
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