West Ham United fan and golfer Billy Horschel finished in a career-best joint-second place at The Open Championship on Sunday.
Horschel ended a memorable week at Royal Troon on the west coast of Scotland with a three under par round of 68 and a seven under par four round total of 267.
Having started the final round a shot clear of the field, Horschel might have hoped that would be enough to see him win a first major title and receive the Claret Jug. However, a sensational 65 from Xander Schauffele saw his fellow American finish nine under par and win The Open by two shots from Horschel and Englishman Justin Rose.
While he may be disappointed not to win his first major, Horschel achieved his best-ever finish at both a major and The Open, beating his tied-fourth at the US Open in 2014 and tied-21st achieved at The Open in 2022.
Horschel went through a range of fortunes and emotions at Troon on Sunday, birdieing three of his opening six holes to move to six under, only for two bogies to see him slip back to where he had started the day.
While his hopes of winning had gone by the time he teed off on the 16th, the 37-year-old showed his class by finishing his round and tournament with three straight birdies to secure a share of second place with Rose.
“I'm disappointed. I should feel disappointed. I had a chance to win a major,” said Horschel, who carried his clubs in his now-famous Claret and Blue West Ham-branded golf bag.
“I was in a really good position. I just didn’t play. I just made a few too many mistakes today when I didn’t need to. I lost momentum at eight and ten with those two bogeys when Xander was making a runaway charge.
“Fighting until the end is in my DNA. I did a lot of great things that I can take on to the next few years of majors, and hopefully one of these will be my time to step through the door and hold one of them.”
Everyone at West Ham United would like to say ‘well played’ to Billy following his best major championship finish and look forward to catching up with him on home turf during the Hammers’ Sunshine State Tour of Florida.
