Billy Horschel’s quest to make his first Ryder Cup team just took a big blow.
The 38-year-old pro announced via X Tuesday morning that he’ll undergo right-hip surgery next week in Colorado. He’ll miss the next couple of months but said he hopes to return by late summer or early fall.
“After consulting with doctors and my team, we are going to have right hip surgery early next week out in Colorado,” Horschel wrote. “It’s an unfortunate situation with so many great events left on the calendar but this is a preventative measure. I’m already looking forward to getting the rehab started, getting back to practicing and hopefully returning to the golf course in late summer/early fall.”
Horschel has made 12 starts this season. He’s missed five cuts and has recorded two top 10s. He tied for 27th at the RBC Heritage and was set to play the following week’s Zurich Classic, but he withdrew due to the hip injury. That led to the decision to have surgery.
The timeline is not great for Horshcel’s Ryder Cup chances.
The eight-time PGA Tour winner has been on one Presidents Cup team but has never been named to a Ryder Cup squad — although his dominating finish in the 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs led to the decision to delay the selection of captain’s picks. Horschel missed the cut at the first of four playoff stops that year (The Barclays) and tied for second a week later right before the three captain’s picks were made. He wasn’t one of them, but he won the next two events (and FedEx Cup title) to close out the season.
Horschel ranks 16th in the Ryder Cup standings, with the top six after the BMW Championship in mid-August auto-qualifying for the team. The final six spots will be captain’s picks made by Keegan Bradley, who at 22nd in the standings is still trying to make the team himself.
Horschel’s time away means it will be nearly impossible to make the team on points, meaning his only hope of a Ryder Cup nod will be to return on the early end of the timeline and impress Captain Bradley with some (very) strong play in limited starts.
The 2025 Ryder Cup is Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y. The last five Ryder Cups have been won by the home team. Europe won 16.5-11.5 in Italy in 2023.
