Billy Horschel

Horschel's first love in sports was baseball, but an injury when he was 14 led him to play golf. Born in Grant, Fla., he comes from a blue-collar family. Neither of his parents went to college, but they worked hard to make sure that he and his two brothers were able to get a college education. Golf opened the door for Horschel, and he was able to get a golf scholarship from the University of Florida.
Horschel won individual medalist honors at the 2006 U.S. Amateur, shooting a two-day score of five-under-par (60-78 - 138) at Chaska Town Course and Hazeltine National Golf Club outside Minneapolis. His opening-round 60 at Chaska remains an 18-hole USGA championship record, but he failed to make it past the third round of match play. Horschel also played as an amateur at the 2006 U.S. Open, where he missed the cut.
He played for coach Buddy Alexander's Florida Gators men's golf team. Horschel was a four-time All-American, including three first-team honors, and the SEC Player of the Year in 2007 and '09. Horschel graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in sports management in 2009.
Represented the United States at the Palmer Cup in 2007 and '08, earning four-and-a-half points. He posted a 3-1 record for the victorious 2007 USA Walker Cup Team.
He turned professional in 2009 and in December of that year, earned his PGA Tour card for 2010 through the Q-School. A wrist injury limited him to four Tour events, and he did not make the cut in any of them. In December 2010, he regained his Tour card through qualifying school to back up his medical extension.
2011 Notes: Horschel finished T-13th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic after missing his first three cuts. He missed 10 cuts in his next 13 events and went into the Greenbrier Classic ranked 179th on the money list. He finished T-66th at Greenbrier, then earned his first career top-10 finish with a T-10th at Reno-Tahoe. A T-7th at Frys.com helped him end the year 140th on the money list. Having finished T-103rd in Q-School, he had to rely on his top-150 status to play on the Tour for 2012.
2012 Notes: Only missed two cuts and had two top-25 finishes in 17 starts. Finished 3rd at the True South Classic and ended the year 147th on the money list. At Q-School, he finished T-4th, securing his Tour card for 2013.
2013 Notes: He made the cut in 22 of 26 tournaments he entered. Had three consecutive top-10 finishes before his breakthrough win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in his 61st PGA Tour start. Horschel made six consecutive birdies in the final round and won by a stroke over D.A. Points. The victory and a T-4th at the U.S. Open moved him to fifth place in the FedExCup standings, fifth on the PGA Tour money list, and 37th in the Official World Golf Ranking a week before the PGA Championship. He played in all four FedExCup playoff events and ended his year with a T-7th at the Tour Championship. He was 16th in the FedExCup standings and 13th on the money list.
2014 Notes: In a great closing stretch, Horschel won the FedExCup with a furious rally in the playoffs, including a T-2nd at the Deutsche Bank Championship and victories at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship. His victory at East Lake meant that in one day, he earned the $1,440,000 first-place check for winning the tournament, a $10-million bonus for winning the FedExCup, and a five-year PGA Tour exemption. At age 27 years, 9 months, and 7 days, he became the youngest FedExCup champion (the previous youngest was Bill Haas in 2011 at 29 years, 4 months, and 1 day). He also became the fifth player to win consecutive FedExCup playoffs events, joining Rory McIlroy (2012), Camilo Villegas (2008), Vijay Singh (2008), and Tiger Woods (2007).
2015 Notes: Finished 3rd at the Valero Texas Open, T-11th at The Memorial, and T-8th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The defending FedExCup champion wasn't able to return to East Lake GC to defend his Tour Championship and ended the year 66th in the FedExCup standings and 54th on the money list.
2016 Notes: Played 20 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts and finishing in the top 10 five times. Best finish was T-4th at the Valero Texas Open. He placed T-5th at the Wyndham Championship. Finished 50th in the FedExCup standings and 57th on the money list.
2017 Notes: In his third start of the season at the RSM Classic, Horschel tied for the lead and in a five-way playoff, was eliminated on the first extra hole when he missed a putt of three feet. Got into another playoff at the AT&T Byron Nelson and won on the first extra hole when Jason Day missed a short par putt. After claiming the AT&T Byron Nelson Tournament, Horschel hinted at a private struggle he and his family had been dealing with. Later that day, his wife Brittany released a tweet to explain her husband's emotional reaction, revealing publicly that she sought treatment the previous year for alcoholism. She realized her problem and once she got treatment, has stayed sober since. Had two more top-10s, with a T-4th at the Honda Classic and FedEx St. Jude Classic. His season ended at the BMW Championship in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He placed 42nd in the final standings.
2018 Notes: Played 27 events and made 17 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He was fifth in the FedExCup standings, his best showing since winning the FedExCup in 2014. Teamed with Scott Piercy to shoot a final-round five-under 67 (foursomes) to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans by one stroke over Jason Dufner/Pat Perez. The team shot 65-73-61-67 - 266 (-22) using four-ball (R1/R3) and foursomes (R2/R4) formats, including a bogey-free final round. The win marked the fifth of his career in his 191st start at the age of 31 years, 4 months, 22 days. At the Barbasol Championship, he posted scores of 65-66-68-67 - 266 (-22) to finish T-2nd. Also was T-5th at the RBC Heritage, two strokes out of the Kodaira/Kim playoff. Entered the Northern Trust 41st in the FedExCup standings and finished T-3rd, five strokes behind winner Bryson DeChambeau. Withdrew from the Dell Technologies Championship, and the next week was T-3rd at the BMW Championship, one stroke out of the Bradley/Rose playoff. At the Tour Championship, he finished 2nd, two strokes behind winner Tiger Woods.
2019 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events and made 24 cuts with four top-10 finishes. He was 48th in the FedExCup standings. He finished 8th at the Farmers Insurance Open and T-9th at the Memorial after he shot a final round of 68. Placed T-9th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and T-6th at the Wyndham Championship. In the FedExCup playoffs, he finished T-21st at the Northern Trust and T-37th at the BMW Championship. On the European Tour, he finished T-4th at the BMW Championship, five strokes winner Danny Willett.
2020 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with six top-10 finishes. He was 30th in the FedExCup standings. He finished T-6th at the Zozo Championship and T-8th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. Was T-9th at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and T-9th at the WGC-Mexico Championship. After the break, he posted a T-7th at the Workday Charity Open and a 2nd at the Wyndham Championship, one stroke behind winner Jim Herman. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at the Northern Trust, T-33rd at the BMW Championship, and 30th at the Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 25 PGA Tour events making 22 cuts with six top-ten finishes. He was T-9th in the FedExCup standings. Shot a final-round 64 to finish T-5th at the Mayakoba Golf Classic, four shots back of winner Viktor Hovland. He was T-7th at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He was T-2nd at the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession, three shots back of winner Collin Morikawa. It was his first career top-five at a WGC event and a sign of good things ahead. In his next WGC event, he defeated Scottie Scheffler, 2 and 1, in the Championship Match of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play to earn his sixth career PGA Tour title and first in a WGC. The victory came in his 266th start at the age of 34 years, 3 months, and 21 days. Held a 2-1-0 record in group play, with wins coming against Max Homa and Collin Morikawa, before defeating Homa in a playoff to advance to the Round of 16. En route to the Championship Match, he also defeated Kevin Streelman, Tommy Fleetwood, and Victor Perez. Was T-4th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans with partner Sam Burns. In the FedExCup Playoffs was T-31st in the Northern Trust, T-52nd in the BMW Championship, and T-9th at the Tour Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with five top-ten finishes. He was T-21st in the FedExCup standings. Shot 66 on the final day to finish T-6th at the Phoenix Open, two shots back of the Scheffler/Cantlay playoff. Had a share of the 54-hole lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shot 75 in the final round, and fell a shot back of winner Scottie Scheffler. In defense of the WGC-Dell Match Play won his group but lost to Scottie Scheffler in the Round of 16, 1 up. He finished runner-up with partner Sam Burns at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, recording his third top-five in five starts at the event since the team format was introduced in 2017. With rounds of 70-68-65-72, Horschel won the Memorial Tournament with very little suspense, winning by four shots over Aaron Wise. His victory check of $2,160,00 was the highest check in his 12-year PGA Tour career. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at the FedEx St. Jude, T-35th at the BMW Championship, and T-21st at the Tour Championship. He played in his first Presidents Cup and was 1-2-0. He lost his singles match to K.H. Lee 3 & 1.
2023 Notes: Was T-7th at the CJ Cup in South Carolina. During the November/December break, he decided with his coach, Todd Anderson, to work on some swing changes to get him back to how he was swinging in 2013 and '14. He struggled with the changes during the West Coast swing. After missing the cut at the Genesis Invitational, they decided to scrap the swing change. At the Honda Classic opened up with a 65 to hold a share of the lead, but with rounds of 73-68-72, finished T-42nd. At the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, he made some changes. First was not voluntary, he had to replace his putter. On arrival in Austin noticed the putter was bent, so Png was able to build him a replacement putter. He also switched golf balls, the Titleist golf ball he had been using since 2017 was being phased out, and in experimenting with a new one found that it spins more around the greens and launches higher. So he put it into play at the Match Play and was able to advance out of group play with a 2-0-1 record, but lost to Cameron Young in the Round of 16.