Horschel unaware wife ready to go public about alcoholism

FORT WORTH ( Texas): Billy Horschel was playing in a charity golf tournament a day after winning the Byron Nelson when his wife asked him to read a personal message she was ready to post on social media.

The PGA Tour player’s initial reaction to his wife, Brittany, was that she didn’t have to go public about her alcoholism until she was ready to do so.

“It’s unbelievable what my wife did. I honestly didn’t know she was going to do it,” Horschel said on Tuesday.

In a poignant Twitter post on Monday, a day after Horschel’s first PGA Tour victory since the end of the 2014 season, Brittany Horschel revealed that she is battling alcoholism.

She said she spent more than two months at a treatment centre last year, and just last weekend marked the one-year anniversary of her sobriety.

That post came a day after Horschel vaguely made reference to a struggle away from golf when talking about his emotions of winning again.

“I obviously mentioned something about the last year ... but we can dip, dive and dodge around these questions no problem, and we can wait until you’re ready,” Horschel told his wife.

“She said, ‘No, I’m ready. I’m ready to share our story and start helping people.’“

During a previously scheduled news conference before playing in his first Colonial, Horschel initially read from a statement.

He said his family is like many families struggling with any variety of issues but that his is more in the public eye.

“(That) provides us with an opportunity to speak out about the very real struggles of battling addiction,” he said.

“It can be a very lonely disease, and there is a stigma out there that leads many not to ask or accept the help they need.”

Horschel said their hope is that by sharing their story that they can help other people and families struggling with addiction. — AP