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Billy Horschel enjoyed a dream come true Sunday at the Memorial Tournament, dropping a par putt on the 72nd hole for a four-stroke win at Muirfield Village before being enveloped in hugs by his three children and wife on the 18th green.
“I’ve just always wanted that one moment where my family runs out – the kids run out – that I can always look back for many years to come, and they can look back at for their entire life, of being on the green and congratulating their father for a victory,” said Horschel, who noted it had become a “running joke” in their family that his kids had never been present for any of his previous victories. “So, it’s special to have that video and those photos for the rest of our lives.”
Tournament host Jack Nicklaus was quick to joke that Horschel will need to purchase the footage, but the living legend also was fast with the compliment, noting that Horschel made the putts when he needed to en route to an even-par 72 in the final round. He finished at 13-under 275, four strokes ahead of South Africa’s Aaron Wise, for his seventh career Tour title and improved to 3-for-5 when attempting to convert a 54-hole lead or co-lead on Tour.
“I have a very good understanding of how to win golf tournaments,” said Horschel, who’s made no secret of his love of watching golf and old footage, as well as his close study of players like Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. “Have I put myself there, a lot? No, but I think my record’s pretty good when I do have a chance to win and closing out events.
“So you realize the value of par means a lot on a Sunday, especially when you’re around the lead or leading a tournament. And so, I’m a guy who loves grinding it out. … And today I started off feeling very good about my swing, then (the iron shot) on 12 felt a little off. From there it was, ‘OK, we’ll grind this out and figure out a way to get the ball in the hole as quickly as we can.’ And I do that very well, I feel like.”
After opening with a 70, which featured a lone bogey on his 10th hole Thursday, Horschel followed up with a bogey-free 68 on Friday and headed into the weekend two strokes off the pace set by second-round leader Cameron Smith (T-13). Horschel vaulted into contention on Saturday, shooting 65 in another bogey-free round to take a five-stroke lead and tie largest 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour this season.
“I think today, knowing the golf course … I didn’t have to do anything special out there; I’ve got a five-shot lead,” he said of his pragmatic approach. “I played great the last two days (Friday, Saturday). I’ve just got to go out there and continue to execute golf shots and try not to do anything special, try not to do anything stupid that would allow guys to sort of come back into the fold.”
Horschel, however, failed to avoid doing “anything special,” and made an eagle putt from nearly 53 feet at the par-5 15th for his first eagle in 576 holes played at the Memorial.
“Icing on the cake to make eagle,” he said, “have a four-shot lead with three tough holes out here, knowing I didn’t have to do anything special, and that Aaron had to do something special to track me down.”
Wise, who was seeking his second career win and first since the 2018 Byron Nelson, gave chase to Horschel but couldn’t gain ground with a 71 on Sunday.
“I went out with the attitude, ‘I’m just going to do me and maybe hopefully Billy comes back to me,’ because you can’t press out there too much because you can barely hold some of the greens, never mind attack some of the pins,” said Wise, who’s made 13 cuts in 17 starts this season with four top-10 results. “So, I thought I did a great job. I thought I put a good round together. It was a testament to Billy – he did the same. He did what he needed to do, and he won the golf tournament.”
Horschel last won at the 2021 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play last March and on the DP World Tour last September at the BMA PGA Championship, with his most recent individual stroke-play title on Tour coming at the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson. He collected 550 FedExCup points for the Memorial win, moving to No. 10 in the FEC standings and to No. 8 in the Presidents Cup standings. He also moved to No. 11 in the Official World Golf Rankings, a career best.
Defending champion and two-time Memorial Tournament winner (2019, 2021) Patrick Cantlay shot 71 on Sunday to finish T-3 at 7-under 281 with Chile’s Joaquin Niemann (71). Cantlay was seeking to join Woods (1999-2001) as the only players to win the Memorial Tournament in consecutive years. Rounding out the leaderboard at 6-under 282 (T-5) were Max Homa (69), Will Zalatoris (70), Denny McCarthy (72), Sahith Theegala (71) and Daniel Berger (73). Finishing T-10 at 4-under 284 were Sungjae Im (69), Jon Rahm (69) and Brendan Steele (71).
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Hadwin’s ace, Matsuyama’s DQ mark the high/low points at Muirfield Village
Canada’s Adam Hadwin recorded his first career hole-in-one in Tour competition on Friday, acing the 194-yard, par-3 16th with a 7-iron from 194 yards. According to the Tour, the hole-in-one came on the 2,863rd par-3 that he’d played on Tour (in stroke-play events). Jon Rahm made the most recent ace at the Memorial, in 2021, also at No. 16 in the second round.
Hadwin, who carded a 68 on Friday, also made eagle at the par-5 seventh hole, marking the second time he’s made two eagles in the same round on Tour (also at second round of 2019 RBC Canadian Open). The 34-year-old, whose lone Tour win came at the 2017 Valspar Championship, made his sixth cut in eight starts at the Memorial and shot 70-72 over the weekend to finish T-18 at 2-under 286.
Marking one of the week’s low points was the disqualification of 2014 Memorial champion Hideki Matsuyama, who was disqualified on the 10th tee Thursday due to a non-conforming club (Rule 4.1a). It was Matsuyama’s first DQ in a PGA Tour event.
Steve Rintoul, chief referee and PGA Tour senior tournament director, said officials were made aware of a potential “non-conforming” club after Matsuyama initially teed off and spoke to the 30-year-old on to confirm that he had used it. The club in question was his 3-wood, which was painted with a substance similar to Liquid Paper. One of Matsuyama’s equipment people reportedly had applied it as an alignment aid, but it made the club non-conforming, maning it could have changed the spin and/or other flight characteristics of the ball.
“Don’t paint the face of your clubs,” said Rintoul, who described Matsuyama as “very honest and forthright” regarding the situation. “You can have a Sharpie marking for alignment, but that much substance is above what the Rules allow.”
Matsuyama had shot 39 on his front nine before exiting the round, leaving playing partners Rory McIlroy (T-18) and Patrick Reed (T-53) to finish as a twosome.
DeChambeau, Morikawa among notables missing the cut
For the fourth consecutive year, the 36-hole cut at the Memorial was over par – 2-over 146 – with 70 players from a field of 120 advancing to the weekend, 14 on the number. Among the notable names missing the cut were Collin Morikawa (71-77), who lost in a playoff last year to 2021 winner Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick (74-73) and Harris English (77-77), who was making his first start since the 2022 Sony Open in Hawaii and hip surgery in February.
Also missing the cut was 2018 champion Bryson DeChambeau, who played his first tournament since the Masters and left wrist surgery in April. He shot 76-77 and told media after his first round that he’s ready to “enjoy the journey again.”
“I’ve taken enough time off to where I’m comfortable going after it again; whereas before it was tough because it’s like, man, I was grinding so hard, and I wasn’t figuring stuff out,” he said. “It can just beat you down. … But it’s a great test run to keep going, because really my eyes are set on the U.S. Open. That’s where I want to be full horse, all horses moving in the right direction. I’m just not there yet with everything.”
Chad Ramey withdrew after the first round due to a back injury.
Next up: RBC Canadian Open
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Tour heads north of the border for the RBC Canadian Open, where Rory McIlroy will look to defend his title from 2019.
Returning to action following a week off are FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler and recent Charles Schwab Challenge winner Sam Burns, both of whom will make their tournament debut. Reigning PGA champion Justin Thomas will make his second straight Canadian Open appearance and will continue his “experiment” of playing the week prior to a major as he gears up for the U.S. Open. Corey Conners, who finished T-13 at the Memorial, leads a crew of 21 Canadians in the field.
The year’s event will be staged at St. George’s Golf and Country Club, which last hosted the event in 2010 when Sweden’s Carl Pettersson won by one shot over Dean Wilson. Pettersson, who went on to win five Tour titles, made the cut on the number then shot a tournament-record 60 in the third round to vault into contention.
In 2019 at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, McIlroy carded a 9-under 61 on the final day to win by seven shots (22-under 258) for his 16th Tour title. Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson finished T-2 at 15-under, while Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar were T-4 at 13 under. Hadwin was low Canadian and finished sixth, earning a spot in The Open Championship with his top-eight result.
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