Billy Horschel on why fans should be excited about the PGA Tour’s direction | Golf Channel Podcast

In this week’s episode, the guys discuss Scottie Scheffler’s latest Player of the Year award and the recent Q-School results. Plus, PGA Tour winner Billy Horschel joins the show to discuss the upcoming season of TGL and why fans should be excited about a scarce Tour model. #golf #golfchannel #pgatour

Chapters:
0:00: Scottie Scheffler nabs yet another Player of the Year award
04:30: Who, or what, is actually going to stop Scottie?
09:00: Do 5 Q-School graduates still work in this evolving Tour model?
15:00: Billy Horschel joins the show! What’s coming up with TGL
26:00: Horschel on a difficult 2025 that included hip surgery
33:00: BillyHo weighs in on the future direction of the PGA Tour
46:00: Surest sign of the apocalypse: Rex beats Lav in fantasy football
47:30: Happy holidays from Rex & Lav!

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Billy Horschel on why fans should be excited about the PGA Tour’s direction | Golf Channel Podcast
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Hello and welcome into this edition of the Golf Show podcast with Rex and Lab. And folks, we have a special one today. Billy Horchel back on the show. Going to talk TGL injury recovery, the 2027 PJ tour schedule, and much much more. But Rex, before we get into that, did want to touch on two things briefly. First, Scotty Sheffler, now a fourtime PJ tour player of the year, the only player besides Tiger Woods to accomplish that feat. Tiger, of course, actually won five in a row from 1999 to 2003. No vote totals were released by the PJ tour. So, we don't know if this was 5149 or if it was 99 and one. Any surprises here for you, Rex, with Scotty being named the player of the year as voted on by his peers? You think 5149 is an option when you look at what Scotty Sheffller accomplished this year on the PGA Tour. It's another conversation we can have about what Rory accomplished globally, but that should not be included in this vote. To be clear, this is the PGA Tour player of the year. This is voted on by the members, by the players themselves. My guess is it was a little bit more lopsided than 5149. I was not surprised by this at all. And this is sort of a little bit more impressive than maybe the first three consecutive years of him winning the Jack Nicholas Award simply because of how he started the season. You and I probably spent the first what month or two, maybe even three, asking what's wrong with Scotty Sheffller and will he will he be okay after the hand injury and we learned that he's a creature of habit, which we probably all should have known right from the start that if things get off at all in that routine of his, which he absolutely loves, that it is going to have consequences. You're going to see it in results on the golf course. And I think that sort of explains sort of the first couple of months of the year when he was good. Don't get me wrong. It's not as though he was shooting a million and missing the cut, but he wasn't as prolific as we had seen the last three years essentially. And it took him a while to get back to essentially where he wanted to be. That fascinates me because now, barring some sort of weird, I don't know, cooking injury, though what could happen in the kitchen this time around versus last year. But barring that or any other injury, my guess is he learned a little bit about himself as well. We're going to talk to Billy Horchel about, you know, going through surgery and what you learn about yourself as a player and and what you try to improve upon when it comes to your game and your body. I can only imagine what Scotty has learned about himself and how that's going to make him better going into this year and what we see when he shows up, my guess is, at the first signature event at Pebble Beach. And will he have sort of have that slow walk up? So, slow warm-up to where he turned into Scotty Sheffller again, or does he pick up where he left off? My guess is he picks up where he left off. >> Yeah, look, if you if you went back and listened to our podcast, postmasters, post the RBC Heritage, I guarantee we had segments in which we were wondering, hey, what's going on with with Scotty? Why is Scotty winless so far in 2025? He was very, very frustrated at Augustine National. Still finished inside the top five in the Masters despite not being anywhere close to his agame. RBC Heritage once again really frustrated. What happens? Takes a couple of weeks off, shows up at the Nelson and absolutely obliterates the field heading to PJ Championship and then he was off and running. Yeah, it was not a surprise to me either. Different conversation with the GWA player of the year, which is not necessarily looking at what you just accomplished on the PJ tour, but looking at your year in totality, looking at potentially the historical significance of the year. That is why I think for my player of the year vote, I still think I'm going to go Roy Moy because of the historical significance. But when you're looking at PG Tour player, looking at any stat, yes, the answer is Scotty Sheoffller. The biggest takeaway for me, Rex, was not necessarily that Scotty won for the fourth consecutive year. It's that like who's going to stop him? Scotty Shuffler in 2025 had six wins. He had top 10s in 17 of his 20 events. He was second on the tour off the tea. He was first approaching the greens and he is now elite 22nd on the greens. And so even if Scotty Sheffler reverts back to what he has historically been on the greens, which is a average, if not below average putter, he is still going to win two to four times and factor in every major championship, which is going to put him as the chief contender, if not the outright leader for the player of the year category for the foreseeable future. And so the question is who is going to step up in 2026. We look at storylines and potential players who could usurp Scott Shuffler. Roy Moy said that he's going to be scaling back his PJ tour schedule. So all of a sudden it places even a greater premium on the times that he does tee up. Xander Schoff coming off a season in which he won just once and had his own injury issues with the rib. Ludvig Oberg, of whom much is expected, won just a single time back in February at Tory Pines and never really got firing. Tommy Fleetwood had the best statistical season of his career, but can he keep it going? And so, I'm not a betting man. I don't understand gambling odds. I do think that Scotty Sheffler would be like minus 1,000 to be PJ Tour player of the year in 2026, barring some sort of injury or barring a absolutely career year from one of those players I just mentioned. I love the idea of someone tuning in to the podcast trying to get gambling advice. [laughter] You could not be more reckless with your money. I think I think I got it. Plus 1,000, >> 10 to one, something along those lines. >> I think it's minus. I think it's minus if you're a prohibited favorite. >> Yes. Yes. Please don't take gambling advice for us. We're really good at covering golf. I I'm very confident in our ability to actually cover the PGA Tour. I do I'm not confident on our ability to give away good gambling advice. That would be downright reckless with your money. It is curious how and it's a good question that he would somehow revert back to the mean when it comes to his putting. I don't know how that happens and maybe it's because we've seen it firsthand ever since he he started working with Phil Kenyon. I had a long conversation with Phil Kenyan in the Bahamas. Not necessarily about Scotty Sheffller, more about philosophies and what he's trying to teach his students. And I don't see how that happens. I don't I guess there's always the option that you just could have an off putting year. Scotty Sheffley would not be the first. nor will he ever be the last player to have an quote unquote off putting year. But even if that happens, we've seen Scotty Sheffler when he is an average or below average putter. You're right, he's still winning two or three or four times a year. I guess Xander Schoffé immediately comes to mind to answer your question because of the reasons you pointed out. If Rory is going to scale back, if he's going to start focusing on other things, whether if that's winning national open titles, maybe fewer signature events, he's going to focus on the major championships, whatever the case may be. Xander seems to be the obvious choice because you're right. Had it not been for the injury this year, I think he probably would have taken maybe a little bit of a step closer to Scotty. But the one stat that you didn't point out, he led the tour in scoring average Scotty Sheffley did this year by almost a full stroke over number two. Rory, that's outrageous. Like when you start talking about trying to win in the margins on the PGA Tour, you're talking about tenth of points or tenth of strokes when you're going from week to week to week. He did it by almost a full shot. I will say the Golf Rider Association of America ballot goes out this week. You don't even have to apparently look at it. You already know who you're going to vote for. You've already said it's going to be Rory Maroy. I'll be fascinated to see how the membership votes on that. I just got the Association of Golf Writers results from their player of the year. That's actually in the UK. That's the Golf Riders in the United Kingdom. They voted for Rory. Again, important to >> the bias >> perhaps, but as you just pointed out, your bias goes the other way as well. I I would point out that >> the PGA Tour player of the year award is what you do on the PGA Tour, the AGW and to maybe a little bit lesser extent, but it should for the GWAA should be internationally what this player has done globally for the game. And I would argue what Rory did at the Ryder Cup. What Rory did late in the year uh winning the DP World Tour title for the seventh consecutive time to put himself in that truly elite com company. Colin Montgomery, he's coming for you. I I think everything that he did internationally would push him over the top. And and it's a good conversation though because I don't think it's a lock. I think that one could be 51 to 49. Yeah, we'll certainly report back on the podcast once all the Golf Writers in the Golf Riders Association of America of which Rex is the president and I am yours truly the second VP. Whenever that vote total is in, we'll be sure to bring it to you and break it all down. Second topic and a topic that Sky Shuffler is never going to have to worry about. Rex is Q school in five PG tour cards for 2026 were handed out last week at TBC saw D Valley course not the stadium course but those players who are now fully exempt in the PG tour in 2026 AJ Uert Adam Spenson Allah Toasty Marcela Roso and Dylan Woo who prevailed in a playoff I actually think that was a pretty cool wrinkle that the PJ tour added for this year that it's not just top five and ties but now all of a sudden you have a playoff to determine who is going to be fully exempt and who is going to be grinding on the corn ferry too. I did like that element. This is now Rex the third year that the PJ tour has allowed full cards for corn uh excuse me Q school graduates. What are your thoughts on how it's gone so far in that process? >> I love Q school because of the stories that you got. You're right. That playoff was pretty cool to watch Dylan Woo secure that last card. The emotions you saw it at the RSM Classic. When players jobs are on the line, when you don't know what the next year is going to bring, that's when I truly think you see the emotions that we want to see as fans out of our athletes. You don't get it very often in professional sports. Certainly in every other professional sport, you have guaranteed contracts. So, it's not even really part of the conversation. This is much different. I always loved covering Q school. I had a chance to catch up with our colleague Bentley Roman this week who was there and covered it. And I think Toasty is the one that's going to fascinate me the most. Keep in mind he hasn't played really since mid to late summer. Haven't even seen him on the PGA tour to circle back around and to actually secure the status going into next year. Technically, I think he probably would have been on some sort of medical going into next year. So, he would have had some sort of limited status, but this is clearly better. I think those are great stories. I do think and over the over the decades you can sit and track how much better the graduates off the coin fairy tour perform at the next level at the PGA Tour. better than the Q school graduates. It's why they essentially went away from Q school for so long because they had quantifiable data that if you do it over the course of 12 months essentially on the coin fairy tour, you're better prepared. You're a better player. The sample size is so much larger. They had a tendency to perform better. All that being said, I still like the drama. I still like the emotion of what Qchool brings. And it's five cards. It's not like we're talking about a lot. I think anyone who showed up at Q School will tell you it is by far a long shot. Again, we're not good at gambling advice, but that's a true long shot. I love the emotion of it. I love the storytelling part of it, but I also get it's probably not the best way to identify a truly capable a truly potentially breakthrough PJ tour player. >> Yeah, I'm I'm completely with you because I'm I'm torn on this as well. And look, I mentioned this is the third year that they've had this, so it's a small sample size, >> but the early returns of sort of how sticky these players are on the PG tour, it's pretty bad. >> Yeah. >> Since 2023, I mean, no one none of the Q school graduates have kept their card the following season. The average I did, I did the math, folks. I did math. The average FedEx Cup finish for the Q school graduates the following year. Again, fully exempt, playing anywhere from 25 to 29 events, their average FedEx Cup finish was 156. And so, I love the stories. I love the fanciful notion. I love the idea of a career changing week and then you get to play the best tour in the world fully exempt. again 25 to 29 events. I do think we need some sort of element of that. It's the same thing with live golf and their promotions event where if you have a great couple of days all of a sudden you can become a millionaire. That potential exists on the PJ tour as well. But as you mentioned we are kidding ourselves if we think that 172hole event is predictive of a big year ahead. Give me more cornf fairy tour graduates. Give me more DP World Tour graduates. Especially Rex. In this new world where there's going to be fewer players who are fully exempt, where there's going to be fewer tournament starts, where every start is going to be precious, you want to make sure you have the best players, the players who have earned it. And if all of a sudden you're giving, you know, five cards to guys who got hot for four days at Dy's Valley, that is probably not going to sit well with the PJ tour membership. >> And I think as we get closer to whatever the finished product that Brian Rolap, the CEO of the PGA Tour, wants, you're going to see few and few of those opportunities just based on pure numbers. I have no idea what the what the finish line is going to be as far as fully exempt players on Brian Rolap's new scarcity tour. However, you can probably guess that they got to come from somewhere. I will point out, and this year's a little bit of a distinction. You pointed out that Scotty Sheffller won the PGA Tour, player of the year. Alter Pocket won the rookie of the year, and he won this year on the PGA Tour. He had two top 10s. But he was the only rookie out of a class, I believe, of 31 rookies who advanced to the playoffs. That to me is a much more shocking stat than what you just said about Q school guys keeping their cards the next year because that is very outside the norm. Normally you end up with a percentage of that rookie class that keeps their cards. And I think that has everything to do with the fact that you did away with that 101 to 125 opportunity which is pretty much if I had to guess historically where those rookies, those first year tour players end up living. They were somewhere between 101 and 125 in that in this year. It's just not good enough. That to me was surprising. >> Yeah. And there's there's probably a couple factors with that too, right? Like the the turn and burn for for for cornfairy toward graduates is not all that great either. You know, there's there's there's not a lot of retention rate among those players. Also keep in mind the shift from 125 to 120 was to try and make the cornfairy tour players who are coming on to the PG store actually give them a legitimate shot where they're not sort of playing catchup during the spring and then having to play every event in the summer. They want they should have a legitimate shot to play 25 events and if you're good enough you're good enough and you can finish inside the top 100. So that was one of the the key changes as well. Uh going to get into that, the future of the PG tour and much more with our next guest, PJ Tour winner Billy Horchel. Billy Ho, a big part of TGL, which is certainly the centerpiece of our conversation with that season, season two, starting in just a couple of weeks. We also touched on his recovery from a recent hip surgery, as well as his thoughts on what the schedule for the PJ tour should look like. He's one of the best in the business and he's our guest now. And it is a pleasure to welcome back to the show the one and the only Billy Horchel. Billy Ho, it's great to see you. Season two of TGL kicks off on Sunday, December 28th with the championship rematch between your Atlanta Drive and New York Golf Club. What has you most excited for season two? >> Everything. I'm excited to uh honestly I'm really excited. I was there last night. I'm excited to play these new holes. Um, you know, I think, uh, one thing that I had mentioned, I think some of those guys had mentioned and and people in social media and people watch, they want to see some non-traditional golf holes. And so, playing them last night, I think it was really cool to to check them out. You're going to see how you're going to see guys have to hit golf shots. You're going to have to hit them low, you're going have to hit them high, cuts, draws, slices, hooks, whatever it is. Um, you know, last year was pretty basic, just point and shoot, hit your normal, uh, shot. Um, but now we're going to have to, you know, work the ball a little bit more. And obviously on the simulator, you see the ball, the trace of the ball. Um, I think it's going to be really cool for the fans watching at home and the fans in the arena to see this uh see us uh a little bit more. And obviously, we see a little bit out there on the PJ tour, but um this is uh what fans have always been wanting. They get to see every shot traced uh when we obviously when we play uh down there at the Sofi Center. One of the things I read about one of those new holes, I think it's called the Stinger and it was very popular on social media. Walk me through that one. >> Yeah, I played it last night. Um, I tried to hit a low driver and I thought I hit it low enough and it just uh it caught the bottom of it. And so, you know, having to figure out how to hit it lower, what to do to hit it lower, if I'm going to hit driver, if I'm going to, you know, take a 3-wood or or or a three iron, or I'm going to hit a driver off the deck, or if I'm going to try and hook it, hit a high hook around hit around the cliff. So, uh, it's one of those things that, you know, you may see a few different ways played. Um, but it's going to, I think that hole is going to be really cool. And I think at the end of the season of season two when they sort of do um a ranking of the holes like what are the favorite holes amongst the the fans that watched I think all these new holes that were created with a little bit of you know more of a you know maybe a little bit of unrealistic type golf hole. I think those are the ones that are going to be the fan favorites. >> I think that's interesting because because there was some online chatter right about you got Gil Hans coming in and designing holes. He's doing walk outs like he's a he's a player. There's a certainly a segment of fans who want to see you play regular simulator golf on, you know, traditional golf holes and there's others who want it to feel like golden tea. It sounds like you actually prefer the ladder where it's something different that you see that for the 25 events that you're going to be playing. >> Yes, I but I think there's a balance. I think there's a balance of golden tea and there's a balance to regular golf. Um, when you look at the demographic, you know, the the non-golf fan want to probably see more of a golden tea aspect and the regular golf fan want to see more of a a regular golf hole. So, you know, obviously the matches being 15 holes is a perfect balance of creating some traditional golf holes and some non-traditional golf holes, some golden tea holes that can be uh entertaining and and get everyone who watches it can get an enjoyment out of it. Uh, and so I think there's a great balance there and that's where I think we're going to, as we go further along, there's going to be even more holes that traditional holes that we create and some non-traditional holes that we could create, golden tea holes that sort of play to both sides because listen, we're trying to bring as many people as we can into TGL. And you know, one thing for me about TGL is I wanted to bring in people that don't play the game of golf. I want them to experience the game of golf in a different aspect than they've ever seen it. That may get them involved in a game of golf. Even if it means them just going to their local golf course or, you know, brick and mortar store or bar where they have a simulator and just doing that, like they're in the game of golf. And that's, you know, that's what I love to see. And so that's I want to I want to get more of those people in. And I still want to draw in regular golf fans. I think they the regular golf fans, it's easier to draw them in. I think it's a little bit tougher, you know, in my opinion and draw in the non- golf fans a little bit. Now, >> I remember last year we were doing a preview pod much like this one and you talked about the importance of being prepared. I think you walked us through how it just felt differently. It was a different feel coming off the turf around the greens. That seems to me towards the end of the season kind of what separated your team from the other teams. Did you feel that in that moment and how do you do it again this year? Yeah, I think uh you know we had a really good uh manager in Ben Helmet who was vital in in our success. He made you know breaking down the holes, you know, figuring out who was going to you know in alternate shot format who was going to hit first, second, third, you know, when the hammer need to be thrown. All these stats, all these numbers that him and Patrick Hantley, you know, figured out, you know, allowed me and JT just go hit the golf shots and not have to figure out with an Alabama education and Florida education how to, you know, figure out what works and what doesn't work. You know, Florida, University of Florida is very good educationally now. Um, but when I was in school, it wasn't what it was what what it is now. >> Shocking. >> Um, correct. But it's always been better than Georgia. We know that for a fact. [laughter] >> Uh, no, but it allowed JT and I not have to worry about that to um Patrick loves doing that. That's something he's he's forte. And I think, you know, us discussing of how to hit certain shots, you know, into the green, you know, we were trying to figure out how to hit it. And I think it was either Patrick I think went in, you know, one day and just spent little couple hours trying to figure it out and and he pretty much said you you have to swing really hard. You have to hit like a bunker shot, hit behind it, but you have to be aggressive and you ha and if you do, the ball just sort of comes out with like spin. It will hit and like spin back. And so he figured out and so he sort of relayed that to to JT and I um um I believe that's what I think it was Patrick that did that. So, so yeah, I mean we just discussed how to hit certain shots and I think we were um comfortable in the sense of how to, you know, play TGL. You know, there's aspect of how to play it. There's an aspect of how to be an entertainer and I think there's a way to to marry that where it's it's beneficial for not only yourself but also your teammates and the team. Bill, one thing you mentioned last year on the preview podcast for season 1 was that it's really incumbent upon the players to be the entertainer like you mentioned to to show personality and that is what's going to help drive it. As you reflect on season 1 a, how do you think that went? And now heading into season two, Tiger is iffy to play this season. Justin Thomas, your teammate dealing with a back issue. uh it's uncertain whether he's going to be able to play this season. How do you feel about the players sort of, you know, accepting that burden to be even more than themselves or do you think the competition can carry and now you don't have to be these these yucksters, you know, for two hours? >> No. No. I still I still think the entertainment value is still one of the the key pieces if not the the most vital piece. um us being competitive, us, you know, wanting to win and and showcase that that will always be natural to us. That's what we've always done. I think there was some question of at the very beginning if if guys were really going to take this seriously. And I think as the season went along, I think everyone realized, hey, listen, we're ultra competitive athletes. We hate to lose. Last thing we want to do is lose to our friends and our buddies and and give them a piece of material that they can, you know, sort of ri us on later down the road. Um, but it's vital for us to be entertainers to to entertain the audience in uh the Sofi Center and entertain the audience in um or watching on TV. Some people are more natural at it and it just becomes it's easy for them to do it. other people are a little bit different and you know I think you know the people that aren't entertainers they have to figure out some piece or some way to sort of you know be that entertainer and that means being prepared before you go play with just thinking about some things that you may say if if something comes up or if someone mentions something sort of oneliners some jokes some little rib whatever it may be you know have the material prepped and ready to go it's no different than getting ready for a golf tournament to play you need to be prepared and and Like I said, as enter, this is a very entertainmentbased product. If this is just us playing golf and not speaking, you don't hear us. It it's not going to be successful. People want to hear what we're talking about. People want to see us, you know, give each other hard time. They want to see who we are as people. And this is a perfect opportunity to showcase a side of yourself that, you know, people won't get to see on the golf course. um you know because like I I've always said on the golf course it's we're so singly focused and it's it's such a cutthroat um tour on the PJ tour that you know you don't want to give you know you don't want to really want to you know breathe too much because you feel like if you breed you may lose something and or give something up. So, this is a a a league, a opportunity for us to sort of showcase who we are, have a little more fun, but the competitive side will never be an issue in my time or an an issue at all. And I've always said that from the beginning. I'm not worried about the competitive aspect. That will always shine through. >> Your workshopping jokes. Now, this is great. Who among your TGL competitors was the lowhanging fruit? Who did you feel like, "Yeah, this is easy. I can go after this guy." >> I don't know. Listen, I'm not I'm not great at jokes. I I'm not afraid to [laughter] admit that my jokes suck. I get I I get lucky once in a while. You know, a a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. I can I can say, you know, catch someone, you know, and be sound like I'm quickwitted with some things, but no, listen, JT's the best at it. Xander's unbelievably unbelievable at it. Uh I just talk. I just I just talk and I don't know what's comes out sometimes and sometimes I make a fool of myself and sometimes people think I'm funny and and some people think I'm an idiot and I don't mind it. I just I just talk until until the two hours are up. >> You're the Philip Rivers of TGL. Very good. You just don't stop talking. That That's awesome. I >> I wanted to It seems to me TGL was the highlight of what was a really cool year for the for the league in the very first season, but the low light for you obviously came in May when you had to have hip surgery. Can you just walk us through that process? How demanding was it? What was the most difficult part of rehab and sitting on the couch watching a lot of good golf being played? >> Yeah, you know, listen, I was disappointed that I had to have have had to have hip surgery. Um, you know, being the best best position in my career at that point in May to make a Ring Cup team. Um, coming off, you know, playing well in majors in 24. Really excited about 25. thought that was going to be the year I finally win a major when I finally make a Ryder Cup team. Um, finally check some of these boxes off that are left unchecked. Um, and yeah, disappointed that uh, you know, an injury arose. Um, at the same time, I'm always I'm I've always tried to be prepared for anything. I always felt there was probably going to be an injury at some time in my career. Doesn't matter how well I take care of my body and what I've done. um just the wear and tear of of doing it, you know, 16 years professionally, you know, four years in college and then, you know, let alone the years before that of playing and and practicing as a junior golfer. Um I think everyone knows I don't, you know, I don't I put in a lot of hours and I I hit a lot of golf balls and I practice. So, at some point in time, you know, the body was going to, you know, sort of just wear and tear and something needed to be fixed. And thankfully it was a hip which is pretty much I think the easiest thing you can get fixed um with a torn labor and hip impingement. Um, I, you know, sitting on the couch was a great time to be, you know, sort of have a perspective, you know, sort of think back and, um, about my 16 years I've been on the PJ tour and what I've accomplished and what I still want to accomplish and and how I'm going to going to go about it and, you know, what do I want how do I want people to see me over these next six years? Um, I think people were shocked, you know, from what I could tell and and you know, people coming up to me about the the person they saw in TGL versus a person they see out on the PJ tour. Um, I I when I'm inside the ropes and I'm competing, I can be very serious and and sometimes it doesn't look like I'm I'm enjoying it. And I I really am. I inside I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying the challenge. And yeah, there's times when you're not playing well, you get you can you get frustrated and and you can be pissed and everything, and that's all right, but I want people to see that I I love what I do. I love competing at the highest level. I love playing against the best players. I love seeing how great I can be on a day-to-day basis. And and so going forward, I want to, you know, hopefully be able to show more of that um to to the golf fan that do that does tune in, that does watch. Um but you know the the process itself was fairly I say fairly simple. I knew what I needed to do. It was more or less being patient. There was there was a period of time there about the 8 n 10 week mark where I felt really good. I felt like hip was really in a good spot. I felt like we could start doing more in sense of um you know training strength um strengthening it, lifting weights and um my PT Sophie uh you know kept sort of putting a handbreak on me and and I kept I was I was giving a hard time and I've apologized to her because I'm just not one to be you know not continue to push and um you know she was really good with with my rehab and and I thank her a lot for everything she she's done and uh um you know where we're in a position we are now because of her and and because of you know the process that she had me stick to. >> You [snorts] had a couple of starts this fall under your belt. Um just curious though, can you take us like into the psyche of a pro golfer and describe what it's like coming back from an injury? Like are you concerned about reinjury? Are you worried that you'll never be the same? Are you frustrated if it's not coming back to you as quickly as you like? What's that process like this fall as you actually get back inside the ropes and compete? >> Well, I was never worried about the reinjury. Um I I was because your body feels good and you're you know the hip has more mobility in it. You're not feeling any pain, you know, you feel like your speed should be back. And even though you know all the data, you know everything, you know, it's going to take time because the hip is still healing. You're still getting stronger. You're still getting more explosive. You know, all the fibers and everything are healing and and reconnecting. And so, you know, there are just times I'm like, gosh, I have no speed. And I feel like, God, this sucks. Am I going to be this slow, you know, for the next six years of my life, you know, of playing professional golf or or am I is it going to come back? And and uh it's it's come back. the driver still from a day-to-day basis can be um a couple miles per hour different, but we're in a zone that I'm I'm I'm satisfied with or I I'm no, I'm not satisfied with. Let me just say that. I'm not satisfied with it. I'm I am okay with it, but I know I I I've still got more room to get to the speed I have been at over the last 18 months of my uh before the injury. And I think there's room for me to actually push beyond that as well. Um, I think I'm a I'm a stronger individual like and since I physically I've put on been able to train hard and and put on some muscle which I think will translate to more you know more speed, more power, you know, the ability to control the ball more out of the rough. Um, I think uh, you know, the mindset was honestly when I went to Wentworth like I was excited to play. My game wasn't really in a in the the shape it needed to be to compete, but I wanted to go defend. I felt like, you know, you don't win many times in your career and being able to go defend the title is pretty special. So, I wanted to go over there and defend the title. I love going over there. Everyone knows I love Wentworth. I love the DP World Tour. I love London. So, it was nice to go back there. But honestly, like the first two days, like Monday, Tuesday, I I was I walked around and I was, you know, doing my normal stuff, but I'm like, this feels weird to be at a golf tournament again. Like, I don't know what I'm doing. Like, I don't like I'm saying hi to everyone. I'm like, am I actually here to play a golf tournament? Am I here just to watch? Um, and then by Wednesday, by Wednesday morning, it sort of clicked in in the ProAm and unfortunately we missed the cut by a shot. Lift out Eagle on the on the 18th hole to make the cut and and from then we progressed um forward with with the game with the feeling of being back playing professional golf. Um, last week I, you know, I played Hero World Challenge in Bahamas and I played the, um, uh, Grand Thornton in the Invitational, um, with Andrea Lee down there and that was the first time I played two events back to back and the hip feels good. So, yeah, we're excited to to get back to to fully competitive golf on the PJ tour in 2026. And, um, I've always been a big believer that things happen for a reason, whether it be good or bad. And I always believe, you know, when in a bad situation, I always believe something great's going to come from it. Um, you just got to handle the process that leads up to that that um that reward, got to handle it the right way and do the right things and and be ready for it to um when it materializes. And so I I do believe something special is going to come from this hip injury. Don't know what it is, but uh I I'm I'm a big believer that, you know, it it's going to be something that I'm going to be very um pleased with. Now, last week in the Bahamas, you were really gracious with your time, as you always are, when I wanted to talk to you about what the schedule might look like for the PGA Tour going forward, and scarcity is the word that Brian Rolup used when he sort of created the future competitions committee. You had a lot of thoughts. You had spent a lot of time thinking about this. What do what's your concept on what scarcity might look like and what the schedule might look like going forward? Well, the scarcity aspect, I I want to make one thing clear, and it's something that uh you know, as you know, we had a meeting down there. Um Brian came down and had a meeting with the players that were uh at the event. Um and and come to find out, listen, I've been outside of tour for six months. He's had many of meetings with many of of PJ Tour individuals, whether it be individuals or as groups, to discuss some stuff. Um and so Brian's been doing a really good job of that. But scarcity, people think it uh, you know, I do believe, you know, in one aspect it means we're probably going to limit some some tournaments on the PJ tour. Something I've been an advocate of for for quite a while that I feel like we've had way too many. Um, and then on the other side of that, I think people think scarcity means we're going to really reduce the fields and the playing opportunities. Um, that's something that Brian, you know, denied in the sense that, you know, right now there is no talk of reducing the fuel sizes anymore. There is no talk of reducing pathways. That is not the the idea of the the scarcity in in his eyes. Um, so I think um, you know, I'm not saying that field sizes won't change somewhat. Um, but I think there it's not going to be a 60-man field. I don't believe we're going to go to a 60-man tour uh going forward. that I don't think that's a a model that um you know sort of you know as you said we're not beholden to tradition. Um but we still obviously you know look at tradition and want to honor the tradition of the PJ tour and so that doesn't that doesn't honor what the PJ tour was founded on in my opinion. So, I think scarcity is more or less um about tournaments themselves and and reducing the amount that we have and finding a window um in the 12 months where the PJ tour can be the most successful and and filling that window with tournaments. >> I I want to follow up on that because you're a you're a man of the people. What What do you What do you say to golf fans who are worried about this direction? Golf fans love golf. They love watching golf. They want more golf, not less golf. Why do you think a model built on scarcity and a confined window, let's call it from the Super Bowl to Labor Day, why is that beneficial for a golf fan? >> Well, I would challenge a golf fan since uh if they want more golf, then why aren't they supporting the golf more by watching more golf? if they want more golf. Why do why do we only why do they only get 600,000 viewers in the fall schedule when they when golf is on Golf Channel? So, there's an aspect I would challenge the golf fan is I understand you want more golf, but if you want more golf, then you need to be supportive of of of us giving you more golf in my opinion. Now, that may not sit well with everyone that I just that I just said. It may not sit well, but I think golf fans are sports fans. And listen, NFL is the driver in the United States. People love watch NFL. We can't compete against NFL. You know, basketball is obviously being played, but they try not to compete with NFL. You know, all these other sports aren't trying to compete with NFL. They're trying to find their own little window that works for them. And that's what we're trying to do with the PJ Tour. And in that window with the golf fan with what the golf fan likes, they want to see the best players play as well. So even though they want more golf, you know what is more important? Do they want more golf or do they want to see tournaments that have the best players playing more often together to see who really to really compare apples apples? And I think however this plays out, whatever the window is and whatever the tournaments look like, I think you're going to see the best players playing more often um you know in the future uh together competing against and you're going to really get a good census of who is or who are the best players uh in the world of the game of golf. One other thing I wanted to ask you, Billy, is is where do international events fit into all of this? You've always been a worldwide player. You've enjoyed going overseas. I can't help but think you were playing in the Hero World Challenge along with 19 other players on the PJ tour. Roy Moy was at Royal Melbourne in the Australian Open. You also had a Victor Havlin and a Will Zurus playing in South Africa. Where do international events fit into the schedule of you have this core PJ tour product, but you also have sort of this shoulder season of five months that that also has a has a void to fill. >> Yeah, it's tough. Listen, I mean, I think ideally in my, you know, eyes for for a long time, I would love to see a global tour, you know, work. Um, but I just I honestly I don't think that, you know, we'll ever materialize. Unless you sign players to a contract that requires them to go play overseas, um, and to support these events, then I just don't see, you know, Americans honestly traveling outside America. You know, they're very comfortable with living in, you know, being in America, playing American events. Um, obviously the financial rewards of playing in America are evident and so there's no need for them to play globally. Um, unless they, you know, they see themselves as a global player unless they have a a fatuation infatuation of of of putting their names on trophies and comparing themselves to others, you know, before them that traveled globally and and created a legacy that was very deep and and and reaching of the entire world of golf. Um, you know, that will never happen. I mean, I I love traveling. I love, you know, playing overseas. Um, you know, I think there's a opportunity that, you know, if what I've heard, um, you know, that if we did a smaller schedule, there's opportunity that you can travel around the world a little bit more and play these events. And so, that's something that, you know, entices me because I'm like, man, this may work out well for me. It may not we may not create a global tour, but if we create a a a window a smaller window of the PJ tour, it opens up a window for you know myself and the guys that do like to travel to go around the world and play some of these events that um we have supported before or some of these events that I would love to have have gone and played and you know Ned Bank being one of them going play down there at Leopard Creek and Alfred Dunhill Lanes you know going over to Australia to play. I've only been there once in my life and that was during the 2008 World Team amateur. You know, there's other parts of the world I want to go play and there's other tournaments that I grew up watching on TV and seeing some of these guys play that I looked up to in the game of golf. Like, I want to go experience it and play these courses and and see if I can add my name to to trophies and um that already have Hall of Famers and major winners and legends in the game of golf. And I think you brought that up when you and I were talking last week about or two weeks ago about a potential schedule going forward. I think one of the options that you threw out there was to go for the Irish Open, Scottish Open, and Open Championship and consecutive week runs. That gives you a good taste of an international schedule and that would be applied to the PGA Tour schedule. Are there other windows that you see that you could apply? Like you mentioned, the Australian Open, probably not the best time of year, but are there other times of year when the PGA Tour can branch out internationally? Yeah, I don't know if I don't know if if branching out international on the PJ tour, you know, schedule is going to happen, but you know, if if it ends if it doesn't start until after Super Bowl, you know, and doesn't start and until Labor Day, that opens up, you know, that entire um you know, November, December window. It opens up, you know, January and early February to go play, you know, in the Middle East. Um, I think we know we will add some European maybe events to our schedule w you know around the British time like you said uh Rex I I could see that as a possibility. Um but I think in that PJ tour window if if if it is a 20 or 25 event schedule it's going to be really tough to sort of branch out. But outside that that main window the PJ tour there's that opportunity to go play these other events on the DP World Tour on the Australian Asian tour. like there's an opportunity to to go play uh some of these um these historic open events that you've seen Rory and other people have played um you know through the years. >> All right, Billy, we're going to get you out of here on this one. You've always been one of the most direct players on the PJ tour. You don't dodge questions. I do not want a copout answer on this. What are you asking Santa for for Christmas? >> Oh jeez. The man who has everything. Look at the >> What do you want this holiday season? >> H >> I don't know. I mean, I I know. I don't want to say it. [laughter] >> You know, >> uh >> he wants a major championship. I'll say it for him. He wants a major championship. [snorts] >> There it is. If Santa could if Santa delivers me a major or a player players next year, he doesn't have to bring me another another gift for the rest of my life. [laughter] >> Never dodged a question in his life until this one. Uh Billy, we love having you. You're a great guest on the podcast. Hope you and your h family have a great holiday season. Looking forward to a healthy and happy 2026 for you. >> Thank you. Listen, I honestly thought the question you gonna ask is, "Is the Georgia Bulldogs gonna win the national title this year?" >> Oh, no. >> I thought that was the question you were gonna ask. >> We all We all know the answer is yes. Oh. [laughter] [gasps] >> Oh, thanks guys. Have a good Christmas. Okay. See you guys in 26. >> Thanks, Billy. >> All the best. >> And a special thanks to Billy Horell for joining the program again. TGL begins in a couple of weeks. Always love having him on. Anything really stand out to you, Rex? >> Well, the second season of TGL, you and I spent a lot of time talking about it last year. I love the idea that the bells and whistles brought in a lot of new fans and Billy talked about he's not necessarily in the leagues, not necessarily interested in the guy that's going to sit down and watch 72 holes of PGA Tour Golf Thursday through f Sunday. More interested in the person that's probably going to sit at the bar with his buddies and talk about that's kind of a cool hole, whatever the stinger hole looks like. I'm still not exactly sure what it looks like hearing Billy talk about it. sounds an awful way to spend an afternoon trying to play that particular shot. However, it's not the bells and whistles that are going to keep those fans around. And he he's been probably one of the best when it comes to this new league that it has to be personality driven. He was one of those personalities we learned a lot about last year. Louie Goldberg was one of those personalities. I think more and more of the players in TGL are starting to understand that. I'm looking forward to seeing sort of that expansion this year. The best part of Billy Horchel, he's not just passionate about his own game, about his own performance. He's also really passionate about the future of the sport, future of the PG Tour, wants to have a say in it, cares deeply about it. More Billy Horses, fewer players who are ambivalent about the future, I think they'd be in a better spot. And hey, just a reminder, Golf Channel has its own golf adjacent programming coming up. It is the Optim Golf Channel Games going to be airing on Wednesday, December 17th. Coverage starts at 7 PM Eastern time on Golf Channel and USA Network. If you've been under a rock over the past couple months, it's Rory and Scotty headlining the eight-man competition. Three hours under the lights at Trump National in Jupiter. Think guys of like an NBA three-point shooting contest meets the NFL combine with a skills competition and some time elements. It's going to be a lot of fun to watch. Also, Rex wanted to give a quick shout out to one of our colleagues, Cara Banks, leaving Golf Channel to stay with NBC Sports full-time. Incredible at her job, has always been a great teammate uh for you and I. We're going to miss her dearly and know she's going to keep crushing. All right, this is our last episode, Rex. At least our last live episode before Christmas. What are you getting into this holiday season? >> I am not going to be grilling anything. I was I anticipated you to ask me about grilling because my doctor wants me to go on. Do you know what a Mediterranean diet is? >> Yes, >> we can we can have that conversation offline. I think you actually did something similar to that. And I know that fantasy football usually is exactly when most people start clicking off podcast, but I did want to share this uh text exchange that you and I had. Oh, thank you very much. I appreciate that. Uh this text exchange happened on Wednesday. It was me, you, Mark Slaybball, our good friend from ESPN and Bulldog. And you had a 60% chance of winning this game that you have now flashed up on the screen. As you can see, not only did you not win, it wasn't even particularly close. And your comment in that text chain was, "This playoff game might be more lopsided than Oregon and James Madison." James Madison would like to say, "Thank you very much for your patronage. We'll see you next year." >> Uh, it's pathetic. >> There are going to be some changes this off season. A team that led the league in scoring, folks, by 150 points, underperformed in the wild card round >> by 50 points. Yeah, >> you can see the projected total and then you can see what the actual total is. And so, yes, a team with Jir Gibbs, a team with Jonathan Taylor, a team with Jackson Smith and Jigba, a team with >> Rashi Rice and George Pickins >> will be sitting on the sidelines as Rex and his pathetic squad are moving on to the semifinals. >> Defending champion >> to you. What do you actually have planned for Christmas? this and are there any sort of holiday greetings you'd like to send to our dear viewers and listeners? >> Uh, thank you so much for all of your support this year. We love the listeners. We love the comments. We love the feedback that we get. Please keep it up next year. We cannot wait. This was an incredible year to be able to m move the podcast on Mondays to linear. It was a challenge. You and I both were scared to death starting out the year. We're probably still going to start out next year scared to death, but thank you for your support and please everyone have a wonderful holiday. Not going to lie, big plans for the Rex and Lav Pod in 2026. Could be different platforms, could be different forums, >> yeah, >> branding, YouTube, social, linear, >> it's all going to be great and it's all because of the great support that we have from you fine folks. So, thank you so much for all the support. Hope you guys have a great holiday season and a lot of fun. In the meantime, you guys know the drill. www.golfch.com golf channel.com for all the latest news, notes, and insights. Rex and I will be back in a couple weeks. Until then, merry Christmas.