Billy Horschel may very well be hearing from the USGA disciplinarians for his behavior on the sixth green at the U.S. Open but in the meantime he has apologized for his outburst in which he appeared to drive his putter angrily into the putting surface.
Billy Horschel apologizes for ‘unacceptable’ behavior on 6th green at Chambers Bay
Billy Horschel expresses his regret for imploding on the 6th green during Sunday’s final round of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
He did not put a divot in the broccoli patch as it turned out, and he proceeded to take out his frustrations on the ninth green with a less violent serpentine dance move. But it was the ax-like motion on the sixth for which BillyHo sent his regrets to Golf Channel’s Gary Williams.
Billy Horschel sounds like he was frustrated on the greens because he couldn't figure out which way the dirt breaks.
— Dan Jenkins (@danjenkinsgd) June 21, 2015 “I just want to express I’m sorry for the actions on the sixth green yesterday. I did not hit the green with my putter. It is still not acceptable behavior to do that,” Horschel said in an e-mail to the Morning Drive host sometime before 7 a.m. ET. “It’s not the behavior I wish to show the millions of viewers and fans and it’s not the role model I wish to be to so many young golfers in the world today. It is unacceptable and I promise to do better.”
Horschel took to Twitter on Saturday to rip the greens, calling them the worst he had ever putted on, and suggested that USGA executive director Mike Davis was a liar for some of his statements about the conditions during the week.
@elkpga... Worst rolling greens I've ever putted on. Nothing comes anything close to this week. My only complaint about the course
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) June 21, 2015 @elkpga.... Umm wrong! If he was Pinocchio, his noes would be a mile long after some of the comments he's made this week. Haha
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) June 21, 2015 After carding a closing 3-under 67 -- one of just 22 final-round scores in the 60s -- Horschel again blasted the USGA for the setup.
“I’ve hit a lot of really good putts that have bounced all over the world. So it’s just frustrating,” he said. “I played out my tail, out my ass, to shoot 3-under par. And I really felt like I should have shot 6-, 7- or 8-under, but I wasn’t able to due to the fact that some of the putts I hit just hit some really bad spots on the greens and got off line and didn’t go in.”
Horschel said he and other players had “lost some respect for the USGA and this championship” because of the conditions of the greens.
“Mike Davis can push back as much as he wants, but when you have a majority of the players commenting publicly ... then there’s an issue,” Horschel said. “There’s obviously an issue with these greens, and I don’t know if he’s just trying to sugarcoat it so it doesn’t look bad. I heard someone say that the TV is making the greens look worse than they are. That’s a complete lie.”
No word on whether Horschel will be sending Davis a personal mea culpa or a check.
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