Billy Horschel says he ‘hates’ what he’s heard golf commentators saying recently and he’s told them to stop

Add as preferred source on Google

Billy Horschel has been discussing golf’s current state along with well-known commentator Smylie Kaufman.

The American is competing at the Wyndham Championship this week, which is his first outing since his impressive second-place finish at The Open.

Horschel was forced to withdraw from the 3M Open due to injury. The 37-year-old, however, is comfortably within the FedEx Cup top 70 ahead of the season-ending playoffs.

Before this week’s event, the PGA Tour stalwart spoke with Kaufman about his season and the game of golf as a whole.

Billy Horschel: Commentators must avoid PGA Tour money talk

• READ MORE: Predicting the four golfers who will represent Team USA at the 2028 Olympic games

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are heavily dominated by talk of the millions players earn each season. Whether that be Jon Rahm’s $500 million deal or Scottie Scheffler’s yearly earnings, it’s a complex discourse to escape.

Horschel has now taken aim at golf commentators for regularly highlighting how much the world’s best players are competing for each week.

“I hate talking about the financials of it. I despise it, honestly, to tell you the truth,” Horschel said during the latest edition of the Smylie Show.

“For many years now, I’ve told the tour—especially at the Tour Championship—that we need to tell TV to stop talking about how much money the FedEx Cup winner gets because I know people don’t want to know about the millions of dollars they make.”

The American added: “They don’t want to be repeatedly told how much money they’re playing for. It makes them feel even smaller.”

LIV Golf has changed the playing field on the PGA Tour

The emergence of LIV Golf hasn’t helped in recent times. The money offered on the breakaway tour means comparisons are consistently made against golf’s traditional circuits.

Golf fans recently highlighted that Scottie Scheffler’s yearly earnings are similar to low-ball LIV Golf signing on offer. Clearly, there’s a desire from large portions of the golfing sphere for attention to be moved back to on-course issues.

Yet, until the powers above come to a resolution with the PIF, it’s hard to envisage the discourse moving elsewhere.

It would be refreshing to see TV broadcasts move away from the financial angle. The average fan probably doesn’t want to be reminded of the riches dished out to the likes of Scheffler and Rahm.

Furthermore, as Horschel highlights, PGA Tour players fighting to provide for their families most likely don’t want to be reminded of what they’re playing for on a weekly basis.