To the untrained eye, Billy Horschel may not be the first player most golfers look to copy on the greens.

Billy Horschel has had a phenomenal career. He has won the FedEx Cup and the Memorial Tournament, and played in the Presidents Cup. But he does not always look particularly comfortable on the greens.

Horschel has developed a style where he edges in towards the ball before hitting a putt. He keeps an open stance which helps the 38-year-old read putts as he is right-eye dominant.

And the results speak for themselves. Horschel was 21st on the PGA Tour for strokes gained putting during the 2024 season. So it is safe to say that he has found a method which works for him.

And there is something he has spotted a lot of golfers do on the greens that he cannot quite understand.

What Billy Horschel cannot understand players doing on the greens

Given that most players will be looking at or around the ball when they hit a putt, it is tempting to keep your head down during practice strokes too. Ultimately, many are simply looking to change as little as possible for when the time comes to hit the ball.

However, perhaps that may be a mistake. Speaking in a video with Titleist, Horschel suggested that it is a lot more beneficial to focus more attention on where you are trying to hit the ball.

“Everything I do, I’m always looking at the hole. I’m envisaging that the break needs to break, the speed of the putt. And then I come in and I look, make sure I’m lining up where I want, and then I go. I’ve never understood why guys look down and make a practice stroke. What’s the benefit out of that? If I’m going to make a practice stroke, even when I used to make practice strokes, I always used to look at the hole,” he said.

“I’m only trying to make a practice stroke and feel how hard I need to hit it. When I look down here I lose my depth perception. I have nothing here. I’m just making a stroke to make a stroke.”

What Scottie Scheffler does when he hits practice strokes on the greens

Someone who has improved their putting dramatically over the last few years is Scottie Scheffler. The world number one’s only ‘weakness’ last year was that he was average on the greens.

However, he is now inside the top 20 on the PGA Tour for strokes gained putting. And it seems that he would take a similar approach to Horschel.

Speaking in a video with Nelly Korda, Scheffler explained how he now takes practice strokes facing the hole rather than next to the ball.

“When I was younger, I used to do practice strokes, but I’ve done pretty much every way you could imagine. I’ve done it next to the ball, I’ve done it like this behind the ball, but the way I liked it the best was when you’re back here [facing the hole] just looking down the line because then you actually get the picture of what you want to do,” Scheffler said.

Clearly, there is not just one correct way to putt well. Confidence is such a crucial factor. And taking advice and guidance from the likes of Horschel and Scheffler should only help players build that confidence.