Billy Horschel's victory at the TOUR Championship on Sunday marked his second PGA playoff event win in a row and his first ever FedEx Cup. Horschel received a $10 million bonus for becoming the regular season PGA Tour champion.
The 27-year-old finished with a 68 in the final round of the TOUR Championship to give him a cumulative score of 11-under and the three-shot victory over Jim Furyk and Rory McIlroy. Horschel (-11), Furyk (-8) and Ryan Palmer (-6) were the only three players in the tournament to shoot under par in all of their rounds. Horschel has been under par in his past twelve rounds (the last three PGA playoff events).
Horschel's victory earned him $1.44 million to bring his season money earnings to just over $4.5 million. In the year's final three playoff events, Horschel finished tied for second place at the Deutsche Bank Championship, first place at the BMW Championship, and then was victorious today. He concluded the season with 4,750 FedEx Cup points to beat out Chris Kirk (3,100), McIlroy (3,050), Furyk (2,450) and Bubba Watson (2,285). He also earned a five-year exemption from the PGA Tour with Sunday's win.
"I was able to rise to the occasion and get the job done," Horschel said, in this ESPN article. "And it just gives me so much confidence, such a thrill to accomplish something like this, especially with the guys I was going up against."
"He was clutch when he needed to be," McIlroy said of Horschel. "He played the best golf this week and I'm happy for him."
But unfortunately for Horschel his timing was a bit off. His recent streak that has made him the world's hottest golfer wasn't good enough to earn him a spot on the US Ryder Cup team. Captain Tom Watson made his final three selections - Hunter Mahan, Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley - the day after the Deutsche Bank Championship two weeks ago. The same goes for Chris Kirk, who also had a great month of playoff golf.
Nonetheless, Horschel showed in the past month that he's capable of competing with the best in the world, which will be a great confidence boost entering next season. He'll likely be on the radar as one of the favorites for next year's major events, and if his success continues, as a member of the 2016 US Ryder Cup team.
