Billy Horschel waited nearly two years to claim his seventh PGA TOUR triumph at the Corales Puntacana Championship last weekend – and he did so on the back of a change to a familiar putter.
While much had changed for Horschel since his previous triumph, at the 2022 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, the putter he used in both victories stayed the same.
However, that is not to say that the putter was in his bag the entire time.
Horschel swapped putters in 2023 but returned to his beloved Ping Sigma2 Tyne 4 for this year’s PLAYERS Championship in March.
“We switched back to a Ping putter that I used for three, four years at THE PLAYERS Championship,” Horschel said. “It’s been heating up. It was on the sidelines for a little while. It had to get warmed back up again.”
Horschel has had positive Strokes Gained: Putting in two of the three weeks he has played (Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open), and went on to win by two at Corales Puntacana after shooting a final-round 63 with his old putter back in the bag.
“I’ve been seeing signs of having unbelievable putting weeks — not just rounds, weeks,” Horschel continued. “And this is one of those weeks where I just had a great putting week. I felt like I was really comfortable on the greens, I read them well, I had the speed very down where I didn’t have to think about how hard to hit them, I could just get in there and focus on my line and hit the putt.”
Horschel explained that he returned to his mallet because he was missing too many putts from between 10-15 feet with the blade-style putter he used in 2023 and at the start of this year.
“You get a little more forgiveness with the mallet putter,” Horschel said. “I just felt like it was time to probably make a switch back and hopefully be a little more consistent.”
Returning to his erstwhile putter also helped Horschel achieve his ideal set-up position. He likes to set up with the putter shaft more vertical and the heel of the putter raised off the ground.
Horschel finished 21st in SG: Putting in 2022, putting up one of his strongest seasons to date. The previous FedExCup champion not only qualified for another TOUR Championship but also made his professional debut for the United States, playing for the winning US Team in the Presidents Cup.
It remains to be seen whether this change powers him back into team golf discussions.
“I think just switching back to a putter you’ve had success with, you know, you’ve made putts with it,” Horschel said recently. “You know how it feels. You know how it looks.
“And so I think it’s just the comfort quality of having that putter and knowing you’ve made putts with it and have been successful with it.”
