Billy Horschel rediscovers his game at Royal Troon, finishes tied for second

Billy Horschel knows these moments don’t last forever, but he’ll take this one with him for a while.

Horschel, the 54-hole leader at Royal Troon, didn’t win his first major this week, but he didn’t lose it either. Horschel carded a 3-under 68 on Sunday. It was a strong performance with his first major lead, but one that was surpassed by Xander Schauffele, who shot Sunday’s low round of 6-under 65 to win by two strokes over Horschel and Justin Rose.

It could have been a life-changing day for Horschel, who has done most everything in this game aside from winning a major, and he admitted as such Saturday night. He didn’t shy away from it. He’s effusive and talkative and relishes this type of stage. Horschel, 37, has been transparent through the lows, like an opening-round 84 as defending champion at last year’s the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, and highs, like earning his eighth TOUR title earlier this year at the Corales Puntacana Championship. Holding the 54-hole lead at a major is certainly a high, particularly for a player who had just two top-10s in 42 prior major starts.

Aside from a few scrappy shots that led to bogeys (finding bunkers on Nos. 3 and 8; pushing an approach into the greenside fescue on No. 10), Horschel remained steady in a round that ultimately matched the day’s fourth-lowest score, and his finishing kick included three consecutive birdies on Nos. 16-18. This was his first time seriously contending on a major Sunday, and although he didn’t capture the claret jug, he met the moment.

“I'm disappointed. I should feel disappointed. I had a chance to win a major. I was in a really good position,” Horschel said afterward. “I just made a few too many mistakes today when I didn't need to. But we'll look back on this in an hour, I'll be very happy with how I played, I'll be very happy with what I did this week.

“I did a lot of great things that I can take on to the next few years of majors, and hopefully one of these will be my time to step through the door and hold one of them.”

After not qualifying for this year’s Masters, Horschel has earned a return trip to Augusta National. He’s projected to move inside the top 30 in the FedExCup, and this finish will improve his Presidents Cup candidacy as well. It’s not a win, but it’s a lot of good things too.

The fans took a liking to Horschel at Royal Troon, a fitting reciprocation of Horschel’s ever-growing appreciation for the game’s roots. In recent years, the avid West Ham United F.C. fan has made a habit of including DP World Tour events on his post-FedExCup Playoffs schedule (last autumn, he competed in England, Scotland, Ireland and France). He won the DP World Tour's flagship event, the BMW Championship in 2021, becoming the first American since Arnold Palmer to do so. A bonus has been an increased understanding of how to maximize a score on this side of the pond, even when conditions toughen like on a rainy Saturday afternoon where he grinded out a 2-under 69 to assume the 54-hole lead at Royal Troon.

Although this week marked a career-best major finish, Horschel doesn’t plan to rest on any laurels. He plans to be on the range at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at the 3M Open in Minnesota, hungry to get back in the ring and chase another title. He smiled after draining a 21-foot birdie on the 72nd hole at Royal Troon, hugging his playing partner Rose and saluting the appreciative Scottish fans. Fifteen years after earning his TOUR card, he’s still here and he still relishes the arena.

“It’s what’s in my DNA,” Horschel said. “I’m going to always fight, always going to battle until the end.”