William John Horschel (born December 7, 1986) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who currently plays on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

Early years and amateur career

Horschel was born and raised in

Grant, Florida Grant-Valkaria is a town in Brevard County, Florida. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town's population was 4,509 as the 2020 census, up from 3,850 at the 2010 census. His ...

. He attended Bayside High School in neighboring Palm Bay. Horschel accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he played for coach Buddy Alexander's Florida Gators men's golf team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) competition from 2006 to 2009. He was a four-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, including three first-team honors, and the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) player of the year in 2007 and 2009. He was a 2008 PING southeast all-region selection. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in sport management in 2009. He represented the United States at the

Palmer Cup The Palmer Cup is a 1200–1215 CE goblet from northern Syria or Jazira region, Jazira, and an example of early Islamic glass. It is sometimes described as "Ayyubid", since it corresponds to the time when the Ayyubids disputed control of areas of ...

on two occasions in 2007 and 2008 gaining 4.5 points. He posted a 3–1 record for the victorious 2007 Walker Cup team. Horschel won the individual medalist honors at the 2006

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

, shooting a two-day score of 138 (60-78, −5) at

Hazeltine National Golf Club Hazeltine National Golf Club ( ) is a golf club located in Chaska, Minnesota, a suburb southwest of Minneapolis, United States. It is a private club and therefore closed to guests not accompanied by a member. The golf course was designed by Ro ...

Chaska, Minnesota Chaska ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Carver County, Minnesota, Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 27,810 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. An outer ring suburb of the Twin Cities located southwe ...

. His opening round of 60 was an 18–hole tournament and USGA record. He failed to make it past the third round of

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

. He also played in the 2006 U.S. Open, but he missed the cut.

Professional career

Horschel turned professional in 2009. In December 2009, he gained a 2010

card through

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. A wrist injury limited Horschel to four PGA Tour events that year, 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 should he fail to earn enough to secure his Tour Card. In February 2011, he made the cut at the

Mayakoba Golf Classic The World Wide Technology Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour in Mexico, contested at the Tiger Woods-designed El Cardonal golf course within the Diamante Cabo San Lucas resort. It debuted in February 2007 and was the fi ...

, his first in eleven PGA Tour starts, finishing T13. Horschel finished the season 140th on the money list, granting him conditional status for 2012. Horschel finished third at the 2012 True South Classic, but only finished 147th on the 2012 money list. Horschel's best finish on the

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. T ...

is a 4th at the 2012 Stadion Classic at UGA. After his third successful attempt in four trips to Q School, he earned his PGA Tour Card for 2013. He began his season making the cut in every tournament he entered. He had three consecutive top-10 finishes before his breakthrough win at the 2013

Zurich Classic of New Orleans The Zurich Classic of New Orleans is a professional golf tournament in Louisiana on the PGA Tour, currently held at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, a suburb southwest of New Orleans. Beginning in 1938 and held annually since 1958, it is commonly pla ...

in his 61st PGA Tour start. Horschel made six consecutive birdies in the fourth round and won by one stroke over D. A. Points. The win moved Horschel to third in the

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

standings, third on the PGA Tour money list, and 49th in the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolling ...

. It earned him entry to the 2013 PGA Championship, the 2013

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the nu ...

The Players Championship The Players Championship (commonly known as simply The Players, stylized by the PGA Tour as THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974. The ...

, and the

2014 Masters Tournament The 2014 Masters Tournament was the 78th edition of the Masters Tournament, the first of golf's four major championships in 2014. It was held April 10–13 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Bubba Watson won his second Masters, ...

. His world ranking also earned him entry into the U.S. Open. By the end of April 2013, Horschel led the PGA Tour in consecutive cuts made with twenty-three, dating from the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June 2012. That streak ended when he missed the cut at

, the tournament he played in after his win. In the 2013 U.S. Open, Horschel held the joint lead with

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

, at the halfway stage of the tournament. Playing in his first major as a professional, he was one of only two players under par after the second round, hitting all 18 of Merion's greens in regulation. He shot rounds of 72–74 over the weekend to finish at five-over-par for the tournament and four strokes behind eventual winner

Justin Rose Justin Peter Rose (born 30 July 1980) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, first reaching that position in 2018. Rose came to prominen ...

. Horschel finished T4 in his first major as a professional and moved up to 34th in the world rankings and 4th in the FedEx Cup standings. Horschel earned his second win at the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

BMW Championship and moved to 23rd in the world rankings. The next week, he won

The Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

East Lake Golf Club East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1904, it is the oldest golf course in the city. East Lake was the home course of golfer Bobby Jones (golfer), Bobby Jones and much of its clubh ...

and with it the

. The win also moved Horschel to 14th in the OWGR. Two days after winning the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup, Horschel became a father for the first time. In May 2017, Horschel won the AT&T Byron Nelson in a playoff over

Jason Day Jason Anthony Day (born 12 November 1987) is an Australian professional golfer. Day had early success as a professional, earning PGA Tour membership in his teens and winning an event in his third season, the HP Byron Nelson Championship. In 20 ...

. In April 2018, Horschel won the

with partner Scott Piercy. In March 2021, Horschel won the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play defeating

Scottie Scheffler Scott Alexander Scheffler (born June 21, 1996) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is currently ranked world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking, and has held that position for over 100 weeks. He has won th ...

2 & 1 in the final. This was his first World Golf Championship victory. In September later that year, he won the

BMW PGA Championship The BMW PGA Championship is an annual men's professional golf tournament on the European Tour. It was founded in 1955 by the Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain & Ireland), Professional Golfers' Association, and originally called the ...

by shooting a final-round 65. It was his second European Tour victory. In June 2022, Horschel won

Memorial Tournament The Memorial Tournament (branded as the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, Inc., Workday for sponsorship reasons, and also referred to as simply the Memorial) is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on ...

at Muirfield Village in

Dublin, Ohio Dublin is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. A suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, it falls within the jurisdictions of Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin, Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware, Union County, Ohio, Union, and Madison County, Ohio, Madison ...

, his seventh PGA Tour title. In September 2022, Horschel was selected for the U.S. team in the 2022 Presidents Cup; he won one and lost two of the three matches he played. In April 2024, he came from behind to win the Corales Puntacana Championship. In September 2024, Horschel became the first American golfer to win the BMW PGA Championship twice when he made an eagle putt to beat

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position du ...

in a playoff.

Personal life

Horschel met Brittany Nelson when both were golfers at the University of Florida. They were married in 2010 and have three children. Horschel is also a supporter of

West Ham United F.C. West Ham United Football Club is a professional football club based in Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, having moved from their ...

Professional wins (11)

PGA Tour wins (8)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

European Tour wins (3)

European Tour playoff record (1–0)

eGolf Professional Tour wins (1)

Results in major championships

''Results not in chronological order in 2020.'' CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
NT = no tournament due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (twice) *Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
WD = withdrew
C = Canceled after the first round due to the

World Golf Championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Results not in chronological order before 2015.'' ¹Canceled due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

(winners),

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

(winners) *

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

Professional *

Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge The Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge was an unofficial golf event held in November at the Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada at Reflection Bay Golf Club. The tournament was a unique stroke play event, and, as the name suggests, pitted three teams, ...

(representing PGA Tour): 2013 *

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

(winners)

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Horschel's Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horschel, Billy American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers Golfers from Florida People from Grant, Florida Sportspeople from Brevard County, Florida People from Jacksonville Beach, Florida 1986 births Living people Presidents Cup competitors for the United States