Billy Horschel can't be too down about his runner-up finish at the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon — his career-best result in a major.
Horschel began Sunday with the solo lead and shot a 3-under 68, putting him at 7-under par for the tournament. And yet, he was left zero margin for error by Xander Schauffele (-9), who locked up his second major of 2024 with an unwavering 6-under 65 amidst the wind and pressure in Scotland.
“It was a really good week last week,” Horschel said Wednesday at TPC Twin Cities ahead of the 3M Open. “I'm excited to have had a chance to win. I played really well — I played fairly well on Sunday, made a couple mistakes I wish I could have back.
“But even with that, I would have had to play a spectacular round of golf to beat Xander. Xander played unbelievable. 6 under par, bogey free, 4 under on the back side, he deserves the win obviously.”
Horschel, 37, is one of the PGA Tour's great grinders — a hyper-intense competitor who golfs as often as anybody. And while he's won a FedEx championship and a Memorial (among eight PGA Tour wins), he was mired in a two-year slump before winning the opposite-field event, the Corales Puntacana Championship, in April.
Prior to his T8 at the PGA Championship at Valhalla — won by Schauffele — and the '24 Open, major success had eluded Horschel. Through this year's Masters, Horschel had one top-1o (in 2013) and 14 missed cuts.
Perhaps that's why one nugget about the ever-steady Schauffele, in particular, stood out to Horschel.
“He's a major champion, he won PGA, he's been so close. I saw a stat, he's finished inside the top-20 23 out of 29 majors. He's been in 29 majors and he's finished in the top-20 23 times. Listen, he's a great player, kudos to him.”
After his cold-blooded back nine at Royal Troon, Schauffele admitted his triumph at the PGA represented a critical mental breakthrough. In the same vein, Horschel credited his improved performance in majors to a wisened mindset.
“I always felt like I had to be a perfectionist, I needed to play perfect golf to win a major,” he said. “2020 Winged Foot … I think I was in the top-5 with 27 holes to go and I just didn't play well, just didn't handle that situation very well. But since then, I felt just the feeling I have and the mentality I have has been in a better spot.”
Horschel moved up to 26th in the FedEx Cup standings and locked up a spot in the BMW Championship with his Open result. Still, not only did he keep his commitment to compete in this week's 3M Open — he was the first golfer on the range, at 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
“We know we're guaranteed at the BMW now. Now it's all about continuing to play well, guarantee my spot for the Tour championship,” Horschel said.
“We get back on the horse. We’ll play well this week, we’ll work hard to get better so the next time I have an opportunity to win a major, hopefully we can capitalize on it and be the one holding the trophy at the end.”
Schauffele, meanwhile, will represent Team USA in the Paris Olympics alongside Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, and Wyndham Clark. Schauffele won the gold medal in Tokyo.
Follow Us
Subscribe
