Billy Horschel has backed his former enemy Rory McIlroy after Scottie Scheffler shared his issues with the format of the FedEx Cup playoffs,
despite heading into the competition at the St. Jude Championship as one of the top picks to take home the title.
Despite not managing to secure the FedEx Cup in the last two attempts, Scheffler is a strong contender once again.
He has, however, challenged the idea that the competition is a “season-long race” when outcomes hinge on the final event, the BMW Championship.
Holding the advantage over double major champ Xander Schauffele by two strokes, Scheffler knows too well how unforeseen injury could compromise his entire season’s efforts.
“It’s quoted as the season-long race, but at the end of the day it really all comes down to East Lake,” disclosed the globe’s leading golfer.
“I talked about it the last few years. I think it’s silly. You can’t call it a season-long race and have it come down to one tournament.”
Pondered the hypothetical, he elucidated further: “Hypothetically, we get to East Lake and my neck flares up and it doesn’t heal the way it did at the Players [where he battled a neck injury the first few rounds]. I finish 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the season-long race? No. It is what it is.”
Horschel has made it clear that he’s not on the same page as Scheffler, taking a stance that echoes McIlroy’s sentiments. “I disagree with Scottie. Scottie said it’s silly – I don’t agree with that. I think we have a system now that — it’s never rewarded the best player throughout the regular season,” he stated.
Speaking about his own experience, Horschel brought up his ’14 FedExCup win, highlighting a system flaw: “I won the ’14 FedExCup. Rory McIlroy was clearly the best player that year. He had won two majors. He came in on a high note. I was 69th in the start of the FedEx.”
Reflecting on his path to victory, Horschel remarked: “I missed the first cut. I go second, win, win, and I win the FedExCup. It’s no different than the New York Giants and beating the New England Patriots and starting the Playoffs 9-7 I think it was and the Patriots being undefeated and then winning the Super Bowl,”.
However, for Scheffler, the FedEx Cup remains an attractive target. “I don’t really think about exclamation point or anything like that, but definitely want to win the FedEx Cup,” he expressed on Wednesday.
Scheffler also gave his perspective on the tournament and its place in the season: “It’s a fun tournament,” he continued. “I don’t really consider it the season-long race like I think the way it’s called. But you’ve got to figure out a way to strike a balance between it being a good TV product and it still being a season-long race.”
Lastly, Scheffler shared his insights on the nature of the competition: “Right now, I don’t know exactly how the ratings are or anything like that, but I know for a fact you can’t really quite call it the season-long race when it comes down to one stroke play tournament on the same golf course each year.”
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Source: USA Today
