PGA Tour star Billy Horschel has opened up on how heartbreaking it was to miss out on the Ryder Cup after a devastating hip injury, while calling on Scottie Scheffler to lead the team in New York
Billy Horschel has called on Scottie Scheffler and the rest of the big-name players on Team USA to step up at the Ryder Cup.
Horschel missed out on a spot as a result of a year derailed by injury. The American had been playing well in 2024 and won the BMW PGA Championship in England, but surgery on his hip – which led to complications – meant he was sidelined for most of the 2025 season.
Now, he’s back in action at the scene of his last victory, and he spoke about how gutting it was to miss out on the team – along with Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, who won’t even watch this year’s edition. Captain Keegan Bradley selected his 12 last month, opting not to include himself despite being in red-hot form. Instead, calls went to Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young and Sam Burns to represent Team USA at Bethpage Black.
And Horschel, speaking at Wentworth on Wednesday, said the three-day contest could be decided by the top players donning the stars and ᵴtriƥes.
“Yeah, we’ve got some rookies on the team, obviously Cam Young and Ben Griffin, and Russell Henry is obviously a rookie, but he played well last year in The Presidents Cup team,” he said.
“Listen, on paper, you know, for many years, we know the U.S. side may be the strongest side, but many a time, the European team has come out.
“This is going to be a very difficult Ryder Cup for everyone involved, especially the European side because of the New York fans.
“Obviously they bring a lot of support and they are very boisterous. But as any American fans know, they can be a little bit rude at times, and hopefully it’s a little bit more respectful.
“But I think it’s going to be a great Ryder Cup. I think the U.S. side is positioned well.
“I think when I’m looking at guys, our studs need to step up. Scottie Scheffler needs to step up. Xander needs to step up. J.T. needs to step up. Patrick Cantlay, he needs to play the way he normally does.
“If those four guys play to their ability and get points, it’s going to be a very difficult Ryder Cup for the European side.
“I think history shows you need your stars to shine and collect points, and I think if those guys do it, like similar to the European side, Rory McIlroys and Jon Rahms and Ludvigs [Aberg] and stars of that team show up, it’s going to be tough for the persons. It’s going to be a great Ryder Cup.
“I’m looking forward to it. Bethpage is a beautiful venue. Like I said, everyone involved, it’s going to be pretty exciting. As a golf fan, I hope it comes down to Sunday and that would be even more epic.”
Horschel also spoke about how disappointing it was to not give himself the chance to qualify or earn a captain’s pick. He explained that the injury effectively caught him by surprise, and then the complications meant he had no chance.
“Yeah, unfortunately the hip really came out of nowhere. Nothing, I’ve never had any pain or anything there and just popped up out of nowhere after RBC Hilton Head.
“After I got my scan and saw the doctor, there was odds I could manage a couple more months to be able to make the Ryder Cup Team.
“Unfortunately my personality, once I know there’s something that needs to be fixed I want to fix it right way. At the same time, if I did try to play on it I felt like at a certain point in time, there was going to be diminishing returns. I wasn’t going to be able to practise much, the way I train, everything else was going to have to sort of be tweaked a little bit to maintain the hip.
“I felt like at some point in time, the returns weren’t going to be worth the rewards anymore and I felt like it was smart to get it done now. Like I said, it was a tough decision because I was in a decent spot to try to make the Ryder Cup team because I’ve never been on it.
“Obviously I’ve never been on the Ryder Cup Team as everyone is well aware of, but I’ve always had the mindset of, you know, there’s something always good, something from this is going to happen. Something great is going to happen. When I played bad in ’23, obviously was a bad year for me, but I felt like if I worked hard and did the right things I was going to be rewarded for it down the road.”
