Playing 18 holes, for 4 continuous days is physically taxing. But is this what golf is just about? Absolutely not. Golf is as much a mental grind as it is physical. Ask Rory McIlroy. After losing to Bryson DeChambeau by 1 stroke at Pinehurst, he was so mentally checked out that he needed a break. He described the day as the “toughest [day] I’ve had in my nearly 17 years as a professional golfer.” Clearly, this shows how exhausting golf can be, mentally. Padraig Harrington attested to the fact too, long ago.
The Irish golfer has won 3 majors and has been a pro for almost 3 decades, so he knows what he’s talking about. In 2016, when asked how much golf is a mental sport, he said, “pretty much 99%.” Harrington mentioned that obviously, every golfer can hit the ball, but it is the “mental strength will decide who wins in any given week, who is a good player throughout the year, and who has a great career. As a player, you have to believe in yourself.” Billy Horschel’s latest conversation on X just reiterates the fact.
Billy Horschel sets the record straight
Horschel caused quite a stir in the golf world when he, being a right-hander, hit a back-handed iron shot after the ball landed on the left rough by a tree on the fifth hole in the Valspar Championship. The shot which landed on the green, was just a quick reminder for the golfing fans, about the levels of the game. Rick Golfs, a golf-based X page, put the video of the shot as a post, with a caption stating, “If you are a 25-year-old scratch player and I gave you unlimited time, the best teachers, the best equipment, best fitness coaches.. The odds of you getting a tour card are ZERO. These guys are so good.”
Fans were quick to disagree. Several stated that all that prevented them from getting a real shot at the world of professional golf was a lack of opportunity or a lack of means financially to make use of the opportunity. But Billy Horschel was quick to set the record straight.
“Umm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Rick is probably right. Percentages are less than 1%. It’s one thing to get the technical part but then you need the mental which is probably the hardest and don’t forget course management and vital tournament experience….. which guys similar in age would have roughly a decade of experience playing highly competitive tournament level golf.,” Horschel stated candidly on X. And he is right.
A lot of golf has to do with consistency as well. You can have a good day 1 but if you can’t back it up on day 2, then the whole tournament falls through. You can have three amazing days of golf and have a disappointing fourth day to lose out on a title chance. Just ask McIlroy about the 2011 Masters. (At the risk of him taking your phone away). Or it could be the opposite as well. A bad first day, but then a good second day, like Justin Thomas had at the PLAYERS when he carded 10 under 62 and made the cut.
Experience is also a huge balancing factor. At 25 years old, several top players would already have competitive experience of around 10-12 years at various levels. Take Miles Russell for example. He has already played twice in the PGA Tour last year, and he is only 16 years old. He regularly features in the Junior Golf Circuit and has been playing golf since the age of two. He also recently won the Sage Valley Junior Invitational. That is something that would be difficult for a scratch golfer to recreate no matter how much effort he puts in.
Monday Q Info aka Ryan French’s reply to what Billy had said. “I’ll bet Billy knows a 100 or 1000 players that he thought were good enough to make it and were scratch at age 12, but never sniffed the Tour.” Horschel agreed, saying, “Correct. Know tons of players that I thought would make and never did.”
Not just in golf, but in other sports too, being a pro-level athlete is not as easy as being an avid or amateur athlete.
“I could make the Tour if I had the time…”
If you are a 25 year old scratch player and I gave you unlimited time, the best teachers, the best equipment, best fitness coaches…
The odds of you getting a tour card are ZERO.
These guys are so good:
— Rick Golfs (@Top100Rick) March 23, 2025
Brian Scalabrine issued a challenge, known as the Scallenge, where he took on amateur basketball players who believed they could have made the professional stage. The players he went up against all had NCAA Division I experience. The result, Scalabrine barely broke a sweat as he routed his opponents. Keep in mind, that Scalabrine was your typical benchwarmer in the NBA, barely playing outside of garbage time. That is the lowest level you could aspire to if you aim to make it professional. And that in itself is highly unattainable for the layman. So, the Scallenge made one thing certain. The professional game is way more advanced than a regular pick-up.
Not just experience, and mental strength, professional golfers go through a lot more that can potentially hamper their careers.
Injuries also take a toll on professional athletes
Take Ollie Schniederjans for example. The former Amateur World No.1 was once slated as the next big thing in golf. He even made two cuts at the majors as an amateur. But a series of injuries and bad luck caused him to never live up to his potential. He is currently plying his trade at LIV Golf, slowly working his way back to a semblance of what he could have been.
Golf is not something that you can take for granted. The missed time due to the injury made a huge impact on Schniederjans’s golfing career. Now imagine, if you’re a 25-year-old who hasn’t played on a professional circuit since forever. There, you will see the difference.
When you see amazing feats displayed on TV regularly, you assign a sense of normalcy to them. Familiarity breeds contempt, right? But that is not always the case!
The post ‘Sorry to Be the Bearer of Bad News’: Billy Horschel Drops Truth Bomb as PGA Tour Pros Get Severely Undermined appeared first on EssentiallySports.