Horschel urges US players to book a ticket to Wentworth
BILLY HORSCHEL will urge more American players to contest the BMW PGA Championship after finishing in a tie for fourth at Wentworth.
With the Players Championship moving to March and the US PGA Championship switching from August to May, the European Tour were effectively forced to move one of their flagship events from May to September.
However, golf’s rejigged calendar also saw an earlier end to the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and allowed the likes of Horschel and Tony Finau to make the journey across the Atlantic – and Horschel will be spreading the word to his usually travel-shy compatriots.
“I’ll tell without being asked,” Horschel said.
“I’ll tell them that this is a beautiful week and the course is unbelievable.
“The way the European Tour puts on a great event, the fans, everything that encompasses this event can rival the best of the best on the PGA Tour in my opinion.”
He added: “I’ll tell everyone that if they are thinking about coming over here, go ahead and book that ticket.”
Horschel and Patrick Reed’s tie for fourth is the best result by any American in the tournament at Wentworth.
Arnold Palmer’s victory in 1975 came when the event was staged at next year’s Open venue, Royal St George’s.
And former Masters champion Danny Willett gave his stamp of approval of the Wentworth course after scoring his first European Tour victory on home soil.
Willett carded a closing 67 to finish 20 under par, three shots ahead of fellow overnight leader Jon Rahm.
And Horschel, who carded his second 65 of the week on Sunday, never lost sight of the leaders. “I looked at the leaderboard to see what the leaders were doing, but I was trying to play for third place or finish top five,” he said, .
“I think someone told me earlier in the week no American had finished in the top five so that was my outside goal coming into the day.
“If this fits in my schedule every year – I hope it does because I’ve actually loved it – I’m going to come over here every time.
“I think this event is world-class. The course is world-class.
“The European Tour does an unbelievable job.
“This is my first time playing an actual European event that wasn’t co-sanctioned with another tour and it’s just fabulous.
“I will come back and hopefully it fits in my schedule every year because I want to be here.
“I think I would love to hold this trophy up.”