Billy Horschel says what his relationship with LIV players is actually like and whether he still messages them

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A strong LIV Golf contingent will join Billy Horschel and Rory McIlroy at this week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

14 LIV Golf stars, including Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka, will present on three of Scotland’s most famous courses: Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and the Old Course at St Andrews.

What’s more, PIF chief Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Jay Monahan are competing in the pro-am. Horschel will partner with Monahan this weekend, and the American has detailed what his relationship with breakaway tour players is actually like.

Billy Horschel has ‘great’ relationship with LIV Golf players

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Speaking to the media ahead of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Horschel admitted that he’s still on good terms with several LIV Golf stars.

“I still have a lot of great relationships with a lot of LIV guys,” the 2024 BMW PGA Championship winner said. “I still talk to them all the time. I still message them. And so yeah, we’ve had some discussions. And as I said in Scotland in ’22, I do believe there is some form of team golf that can be successful in the game of golf.”

Horschel added: “But I also did say, I didn’t think, as they were promoting at the time, that the 54-hole shotgun start was the future of the game of golf. I’m a big believer in the 72-hole individual; the way we have it will always be the future of the game of golf; it will always be how we define “champions” in the game of golf.”

Billy Horschel wants world tour as PIF-PGA talks continue

The PIF and PGA Tour engaged in further negotiations last month in a bid to finally end the divide within golf. Currently, LIV Golf players are unable to compete on the PGA Tour or earn world ranking points.

Movement has occurred in the US, with the PGA allowing LIV players to participate in the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. The DP World Tour, however, remains steadfast in its current position.

Horschel has now had his say on the current situation, and the former FedEx Cup champion envisages a global tour one day reuniting the game.

“I’ve spoken to them for several years about what I think the future of the game of golf looks like,” Horschel added. “For six to eight years, I always felt a world tour would be created in my time.

“Just understanding the economics of the game of golf and trying to increase that side, I felt like we were going to have to go outside the United States; on the PGA TOUR side, I felt like we would have to go outside the United States to continue to grow.”