"I grew up watching this event on TV. This event has always been a soft spot in my heart."
May 25, 2017 - The inaugural Rolex Series event had just got under way at the BMW PGA Championship and Billy Horschel took to social media.
"Watching @BMWPGA this morning," he posted on Twitter (now X) "Watched this event on tv since I was 13. Need to try and make it over to U.K. and play this great event!"
The statement may have surprised some, with Horschel being a proud Floridian who at that point had not played a DP World Tour event outside of the Majors and World Golf Championships.
But two years later he got his wish and expanded on his fondness for Wentworth Club and one of the very biggest events on Tour.
"I grew up watching this event on TV," he said ahead of the 2019 edition. "This event has always been a soft spot in my heart.
"When the schedule worked out with the new schedules on both tours and moved back to September compared to May, I was like, 'go ahead, sign me up. I'll be there'.
"I remember watching a couple of years ago when Alex Noren played an unbelievable final round to come from behind and win, Matteo Manassero, there's a lot of memories from this golf course and it's even better in person than it was on TV.
"It's comparable to our PLAYERS Championship - I feel like it's a Major on our tour and the European Tour feels like this is a Major for them on their tour. It's a very historic event, a lot of tradition."
Now, after six years of winning the hearts of European golfing - and West Ham - fans, he makes his comeback from nearly five months out with a hip injury as defending champion at DP World Tour HQ.
Horschel's debut in 2019 saw him finish in a T4 and make a little bit of history along the way.
While Arnold Palmer may have won the event at Royal St George's in 1975, Horschel and countryman Patrick Reed's -15 and T4 was the best result ever at Wentworth by American players.
Horschel also carded 65 in rounds two and four to hold the record for lowest round by an American at Wentworth, and his first taste of the event did not let him down.
"It's exceeded my expectations. It's a beautiful golf course," he said. "To think about the modern day player and technology, it still holds up.
"We're still shooting 17, 18 under par but the thing about this golf course, you have to put it in the right spots to score well. You can't fake it around here. If you hit shots off line, you're going to get penalized for it. It's a beautiful test of golf and I absolutely have loved my entire week here."
The Covid-19 pandemic made if difficult for international players to contend the 2020 edition but Horschel returned in 2021 and left with the trophy.
Rounds of 70-65-69 left him just two shots off the lead but it looked like he may come up just short on Sunday when he was forced to lay up on the last. He then put his third to tap-in range for a closing birdie, a 65 and a one-shot win.
Continued excellence and more Wentworth glory
Horschel fired three rounds in the 60s in 2022 as the event was shortened to 54 holes due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and finished in a T18 the following year, firing a 63 in round two en route.
That top 20 remarkably is his worst result in the event so far and he bounced back from that relative disappointment in dramatic style 12 months later.
He made a career-best seven straight birdies during Moving Day and nearly holed out his third shot at the par-five last, ending with a birdie-birdie finish to climb alongside the leading pair of Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence at -20 and a playoff.
Lawrence blinked first in the play-off after a wayward tee-shot to be the first to be eliminated as McIlroy and Horschel calmly rolled in birdies to force a second extra trip up the 18th.
The rivals could not be separated as they both found the green in two before McIlroy narrowly slid by his eagle effort.
However, Horschel only needed one putt for a stunning eagle to win the event for the second time in four years.
"I mean I'm thrilled, excited for the way I played," said Horschel. "It was a battle out there today and at the same time a little bit disappointed, Rory is a good friend of mine and I think the world of him.
"I think he's a generational talent and I know how close he's been this year so I can feel for him, but at the same time I'm pretty excited for being able to get it done today.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
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