Billy Horschel, as the late, great Warren Zevon might have observed, is an excitable boy, so when he says he would do anything to help the U.S. win back the Ryder Cup — including donning a skirt — the 2014 FedExCup champ probably meant just that.
Billy Horschel would wear a skirt to win the Ryder Cup
Unlike his PGA Tour cohort Justin Thomas, Billy Horschel would rather nab a major than make the Ryder Cup team but notes a W in one of the four elite events would guarantee him a spot on the 2016 U.S. squad.
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First, though, if Horschel had to choose between making the 2016 Ryder Cup squad and capturing his first major title, well, that’s where the three-time PGA Tour winner parts ways with one of his tour compatriots.
“I would love to be on the Ryder Cup team, be on a winning Ryder Cup team and I feel like I’m going to have opportunities to do that. I’m still very young,” Horschel said on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive a day ahead of Thursday’s Tournament of Champions kickoff. “But I would have to take a major.
“I would really have to take a major,” said Horschel in response to what has become a popular question this week after Justin Thomas created quite a stir by saying he would opt for the team win over a major. “Because I feel like if I win a major I’ll be on the Ryder Cup team.”
We’d say @JustinThomas34 is a bit excited about the possibility of playing in this year's #RyderCup... https://t.co/cAaGXlyPAN
— Ryder Cup Team USA (@RyderCupUSA) January 5, 2016 Horschel conceded his play was not up to Ryder Cup snuff two years ago but he has been close to making the last three Cup events — 2013 and ‘15 Presidents and 2014 Ryder. When the U.S. takes the field at Hazeltine in September, the fiery Horschel hopes to have earned his way onto the team.
“I want to make it on my own,” he said. “I don’t want to have to worry about a captain’s pick.”
Horschel is so keen to make the team, he pledged that if he were one of the 12 competitors trying to break the Europeans’ three-time choke hold on the trophy, he would “wear a skirt” if that would somehow help his crew prevail.
“For the United States team, if I was on it, if they needed someone to motivate them or get them an emotional edge just to make them laugh or whatever,” he claimed, “I would put a skirt on.”
Horschel splashed into the golf world’s consciousness when he played the final round of the 2013 U.S. Open in calamari-splattered pants.
Well here they are! The highly anticipated highly controversial....Octopus pants! Great outfits all week by RLX! pic.twitter.com/UrQwSYWZkB
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) June 16, 2013 And those trousers may not even have been Horschel’s most outlandish wardrobe choice.
Billy Horschel lost a US Open in octopus pants and may win a Tour Champ and FedEx Cup in these. pic.twitter.com/ubZp3AYmMZ
— Rex Hoggard (@RexHoggardGC) September 14, 2014 Battle of the pants: which would you rather rock? Billy Horschel's octopus pants or John Daly's spongebob pants? pic.twitter.com/1Qdpu5KTG6
— Golf Swagger (@mygogi) July 22, 2014 Much better than the octopus pants RT@shanebacon: Billy Horschel's pants are awesome. That's it pic.twitter.com/HM1BYGNFos
— Christian Bruey (@CBrueyWFTV) June 13, 2014 So really, would Horschel in a red, white and blue skirt even raise a Davis Love III eyebrow? The mental image certainly amused Matt Adams last month.
“If I’m on that Ryder Cup team I’m going to give it everything I’ve got to try and help the team win that cup back — whether that’s playing my butt off in the matches or being the biggest cheerleader out there with pompoms,” Horschel said on Adams’ SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show. “I’ll put on a damn skirt if I have to if it makes us win the Ryder Cup.”
Europe, you have been warned.
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