Horschel wants to keep momentum going

Just when it appeared Billy Horschel’s 2014 golf season was about to end, something magical happened.

The 27-year-old former University of Florida star suddenly caught fire and rode a hot hand all the way to the FedEx Cup championship.

Horschel had missed the cut at The Barclays in late August and needed to virtually win out to keep playing.

He stayed alive in Boston, finishing second at the Deutsche Bank Championship. He won the next week at the BMW Championship in Colorado, then finished in style, winning the Tour Championship in Atlanta and picking up a cool $10 million bonus in addition to the $4,814,787 he won last season.

The money will come in handy, as Horschel became a father last month when his daughter, Skylar, was born just after the Tour Championship.

But a new season begins Thursday, and Horschel hopes to keep the momentum going when he plays in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin. He is paired with 2012 FedEx champ Brandt Snedeker and Jimmy Walker on Thursday and Friday.

The oddsmakers at Westgate Las Vegas don’t seem worried about rust, installing Horschel as the 12-1 favorite.

“My game’s in good shape,” Horschel said Tuesday after playing a practice round. “But I’m no longer the hottest player in golf. Four weeks has cooled me off a lot, so don’t expect me to come out here and play the way I did at BMW and the Tour Championship.”

Despite his late-season success, Horschel was not selected for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. It was one of many criticisms leveled at captain Tom Watson in the wake of the Americans’ crushing loss to Team Europe.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” Horschel said. “I loved it that she (Skylar) came when she did and that I wasn’t picked because I was home for two weeks and I got to be with her for four weeks total. Those are four weeks early in her life that I’m happy I could be a part of because I’m going to miss a lot of weeks.

“I did watch a lot of the Ryder Cup. Unfortunately the U.S. team didn’t win again. Like every American, I think we’re sort of tired of it. We’re at a breaking point, and that’s what you saw. You saw some players who were frustrated and all they wanted to do was vent a little bit.”

Horschel is among many calling for change in the way the U.S. approaches the Ryder Cup.

“I think the process needs to change,” he said. “I’ve sort of been a little hard on the PGA of America. But I feel like they need to do a better job than what they’ve done already. They do a heck of a job with the PGA professionals around the country and taking care of the clubs and the country clubs and everything else. But when it comes to understanding the guys out here on Tour, I don’t think they get it because they’re not out here on a regular basis.

“I know they put a task force together. Is it the right thing? I don’t know. Maybe it’s a step in the right direction, but who knows? But I think they need to do something and maybe this could be it.”

Horschel, who had an amazing run of 12 straight rounds in the 60s to finish the year, said it helped him in more ways than winning all that money. Horschel, incidentally, took good care of his caddie, Micah Fugitt, giving him $1.1 million from his big weekend in Atlanta.

“It was pretty special,” he said of staying below 70. “I think what I’m going to take from it the most is when things aren’t going great, I can fall back on the mental side of it, the way I thought about things, the way I handled certain shots, the way I handled the pressure.

“I know there are going to be stretches where I’m going to hit the ball bad or not make many putts. But there’s stretches where I feel like my game is in the right spot, and I can fall back on that mental approach and see if there’s something I sort of diverted from that I can get back on to.”

NOTES — Westgate Las Vegas’ other tournament odds include Hideki Matsuyama at 15-1; Walker, Ryan Moore, Brooks Kopeka and defending champion Webb Simpson all at 20-1; and Kevin Na, Martin Laird and Graham DeLaet all at 25-1. The field is 9-4. … Alex Prugh, who got a spot in the field Monday as an alternate, became a father Monday night when his wife, Katie, gave birth to an 8-pound, 15-ounce boy at 8:15 p.m. at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center. Katie Prugh is the director of development for the First Tee of Southern Nevada.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.