The moments before and after everything changed for Tiger Woods

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Billy Horschel wasn’t surprised by the results of a recent ancestry test. Turns out nearly three-quarters of his lineage could be traced back to the British Isles. It makes sense for a man who employs an English caddie and statistician, roots for an English football club and last year picked up one of the biggest titles of his career in the same country. Horschel, the 2014 FedExCup champion, has increasingly set his sights overseas as he enters the second half of his career. The importance of overseas success was emphasized by his college coach at Florida, Buddy Alexander, and Horschel said that watching DP World Tour events in the early mornings only added to his interest. This week, he’s playing the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick. He isn’t an exception in this field, though, as the tournament is co-sanctioned by the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour. This week, 14 of the top 15 players in the world are gathered in the East Lothian region of Scotland. Horschel is one of them, having reached a career-high of 11th in the world ranking with his recent win at one of the TOUR’s three elevated invitationals, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, as well as last year’s wins in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and the DP World Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship. But he was one of just four Americans competing in Germany two weeks ago at the BMW International Open (the other three were members of the DP World Tour, and not the PGA TOUR). It wasn’t Horschel’s first trip to Europe this year, either. He came to England for a vacation in the weeks between the Masters and PGA Championship, attending two matches of his beloved West Ham United and playing golf with some of the friends he’s made in the country. Horschel said his family has lived in Florida for the past century, but he’s embraced the United Kingdom, as well. “I love that they can have a crack, I love the sarcasm and that British humor but they never take themselves too seriously,” he said Tuesday from The Renaissance Club, the venue for this week’s Genesis Scottish Open. “They care about what they are doing, they are very serious, but they can get away and relax.” Horschel was the first American since Arnold Palmer to win the BMW PGA Championship and finished the year ranked second in the DP World Tour Rankings behind Collin Morikawa, who became the first American to win the tour’s season-long race. The strategic alliance between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour was strengthened this year, and the 10 PGA TOUR cards that will now be awarded to the DP World Tour’s top performers was one of the most revolutionary items announced. If the past year is any indication, however, the alliance also will increase the number of Americans competing on the DP World Tour. Will Zalatoris currently leads the DP World Tour Rankings. Justin Thomas ranks sixth and Morikawa ranks 12th. They’ve accumulated points via the major championships and World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, but they also will need to play four DP World Tour events outside the majors and World Golf Championships to be eligible for the season finale, the DP World Tour Championship. The Genesis Scottish Open is one such event. “I always had a fascination with The European Tour,” Horschel said. “I didn’t take advantage of it earlier in my career and now I’m somewhat on the back end, planning on playing another seven, eight years, and as of right now I want to be able to take advantage of that opportunity and play (the DP World Tour) and play tournaments that I’ve watched growing up.” Horschel, 35, said he will likely stop playing at some time between the age of 40 and 45, similar to his friend, Justin Leonard, who won the 1997 Open Championship and 1998 PLAYERS, but played his last full TOUR season in 2015, when he turned 43. Like Leonard, Horschel wants to be home for his kids’ events and games. Until then, a handful of DP World Tour events each year are likely to be part of his schedule. This year, he also plans to play the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, defend his title at the BMW PGA Championship and possibly play the Italian Open at next year’s Ryder Cup venue in Rome. He may have to remove the Italian Open from his schedule, however, if he makes the U.S. Team for the following week’s Presidents Cup. He is 10th in the U.S. standings. The top six after the BMW Championship will earn an automatic spot on the team, and Captain Davis Love III will round out the team with six Captain’s Picks. After playing last year’s Dunhill with his father, who quickly endeared himself in the pubs of St. Andrews, Horschel is scheduled to play this year with Mark Noble, who’s nicknamed Mr. West Ham because of his legendary tenure with the club. Horschel has rooted for the team since watching the movie “Green Street,” which features the club. West Ham’s logo is on his bag, as well. By embracing his past, Horschel has opened a new chapter in his career.

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – Jordan Spieth could tell you he’s been in the top 10 in seven of his last nine PGA TOUR starts, including his 12th victory at the Valero Texas Open last month. He could tell you the significance of a potential victory at this week’s 103th PGA Championship at Kiawah, where a fourth major win would give him the career Grand Slam – a distinction held by only Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen. But as to when exactly he knew that he was “back” to his old self after a vexing, lengthy slump that saw him fall to 92nd in the world earlier this year? That’s more complicated. RELATED: Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Nine Things to Know: Kiawah Island “I’m not sure if there was a single turning point,” said Spieth, who is coming off a T9 finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson last week. “I think it was kind of a progression of finding some feels that allowed me to stand comfortably over the ball and hit a shot under pressure, and then doing that for multiple days in a row and then having that happen a couple tournaments in a row.” Those two tournaments, he added, were the Waste Management Phoenix Open (T4, including a third-round 61) and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T3) in early February. It was, he said, the “time frame where I kind of thought, Man, I know it’s not where I want it to be, but it doesn’t need to be for me to at least tap in to how to contend out here.” Spieth, who had weather delays getting out of Dallas and was set to play the course for the first time Tuesday afternoon, is up to 26th in the world, eighth in the FedExCup. That’s not up the standards he set in 2015, when he was No. 1 in both, but then again, is that standard even fair? What does it mean to be back, anyway? Winning on TOUR? Spieth has done that. Winning his fourth major? It could happen this week. Revisiting the peaks he reached in 2015? That year, of course, is when Spieth won five times, including the Masters, U.S. Open, TOUR Championship and FedExCup. He was Player of the Year and reached No. 1 in the world. But that metric is problematic, as well. “I was actually a better player in 2017,” he said, “but everyone just looks at results. I had a lower scoring average. I was better tee to green. I was a better player.” For Will Zalatoris, who plays often with Spith in Dallas and will join him (and Webb Simpson) for the first two rounds of the PGA, being back means doing Jordan Spieth things again. And what exactly are Jordan Spieth things? “The disgusting chip-ins,” Zalatoris said, “the 40-footers that when you’re playing against him they’re awful, when you’re playing with him they’re the best thing on earth, or at least when he’s on your team. But the guy, I mean, he worked so hard at it for a year and a half, just hours and hours of beating golf balls. Obviously, we get to see what goes on here, but I’m fortunate enough to see what goes on back home, and there’s nobody that works harder than him. “It was just a matter of time.” A match at Dallas National “three or four months ago,” he added, left no question. Zalatoris and his partner were on the green; Spieth and partner Martin Flores were on either side of it, Spieth having pull-hooked his tee shot left of the cart path. Zalatoris knew not to get too comfortable. “Jordan hits this chip shot that skips through the rough,” he said, “goes up, checks on the hill, then basically just goes Mach3 and just slams into the back of the hole and goes in. Then he follows it up with like a 30- or 40-footer on the next hole. It’s just like, this is just Jordan. “I think to me – I’d seen it for the few months leading up to that,” he continued, “but that was like the most – that was when I knew, OK, he’s back. It’s been fun to see.” Spieth said he’s tried to stay level-headed amid the mass hysteria of his high highs and low lows. “It’s golf,” he said. He said he’s not thinking about the Slam and won’t until the weekend – and that’s only if he’s contending. “I feel like I’ll have a lot of chances at this tournament,” he said, “and if I just focus on trying to take advantage of this golf course, play it the best I can and kind of stay in the same form tree to green I’ve been in, all I can ask for is a chance.” Just a chance. For some players – the most riveting, can’t-turn-away players – it’s all they need. And that’s why the Slam is very much in play at Kiawah. As Zalatoris, Daniel Berger, Matt Kuchar and others know well, when Jordan Spieth things start happening, anything is possible.

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