Eight-time PGA Tour winner thought he was going to make USA’s Ryder Cup team before getting injured

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After months of speculation, Keegan Bradley picked a largely uncontroversial Ryder Cup team for Bethpage Black.

He kept us all guessing. No one knew whether Keegan Bradley would pick himself as playing captain until the day of the announcement. But ultimately, he left himself off the team, and Bradley admitted that being a playing captain was likely impossible after the tournament. 

Bradley’s selections were scrutinised, of course. Did Collin Morikawa deserve to be selected on his current form? Was Maverick McNealy unfairly omitted from the team? But there was no glaring captain’s pick to point to when dissecting what went wrong with Team USA at Bethpage Black. 

That was, in part, because few players outside the top 12 made a strong case to make the team. Jordan Spieth had four top 10s on the season and didn’t truly contend for a victory. Meanwhile, LIV Golf’s Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed didn’t exactly set the world alight with their efforts. 

But one eight-time winner on the PGA Tour had ambitions of making the team going into 2025, before his season was derailed by an injury. 

Billy Horschel had high hopes for 2025 season

The last time we saw 38-year-old Billy Horschel play on the PGA Tour before the Ryder Cup was the 2025 RBC Heritage. He then underwent right hip surgery, forcing him to miss out on three major championships and the Ryder Cup, which he had set his sights on at the start of the year. 

A disappointed Horschel said he thought 2025 could be the year that he won his first major championship.

He said prior to an APGA event at Concession Golf Club, “I felt this was going to be the year I get over the hump and make the Ryder Cup team, win a major, check some things off of my career goals. 

“And I wasn’t playing bad but look back and swing-wise, it was a little bit of a struggle and I didn’t know why. And the Monday after Hilton Head I woke up with a sudden pain in my hip that I had never felt before.”

It could well have been due to his hip injury, but Horschel wasn’t playing the golf that would have come close to earning him a spot on Bradley’s team. He missed the cut at The Masters, one of five missed cuts on the year, and recorded only two top-10 finishes. 

But he was back in action following the Ryder Cup and showed some promising form.

How Billy Horschel played at the Bank of Utah Championship

In his first post-Ryder Cup event, Horschel was back on the PGA Tour for the Bank of Utah Championship.

Despite a tough start, shooting an opening round 72, the American shot three straight rounds of 66 to finish 14-under par and T11.

That was a stark improvement from when we last saw him play. Horschel made his return from injury at Wentworth for the BMW Championship, unfortunately missing the cut. 

But in Utah, he showed that he can make a return to form, and perhaps that elusive major isn’t completely off the cards as he approaches 40 years old.