NewzBilly Horschel was optimistic as ever in January to start his 16th year on the PGA Tour. He chose not to add a few tournaments late in 2025 when returning from hip surgery, and that probably cost him a sure spot in the Masters because he fell out of the top 50 in the world. “I’m betting on myself,” Horschel said at the Sony Open.
He has reached the end of the regular season at No. 176 in the world, which isn’t nearly as troubling as being No. 107 in the FedEx Cup in a year when his full exempt status is set to expire.
It’s a reminder how golf offers no guarantees — meritocracy works both ways — and Horschel has plenty of company at the Wyndham Championship, the final regular-season event that determines the top 70 who advance to the postseason and are assured a full card for 2027. On the outside looking in Jason Day, who 10 years ago was No. 1 in the world and looked unbeatable at times, is at No.
He started the year with a runner-up finish behind Scottie Scheffler at The American Express but has had only one other top 10 this season. Particularly glaring another 11 spots down the standings at No. 86 is five-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who was all the talk back in January when he became the first player who bolted from LIV Golf (at just the right time as it turns out) to rejoin the PGA Tour.
Koepka had been gone nearly four years, long enough to not fully understand how the points system worked. His immediate goal was to get into the $20 million signature events — one of the conditions of his return was being ineligible for sponsor exemptions to those tournaments. He didn’t make it into any of them.
And right when he was in position to contend — two shots out of the lead going into the weekend of the Canadian Open — he had a freak injury in his hand that one round later forced him to withdraw. Now he has one tournament left to reach the postseason. He needs at least a fourth-place finish at the Wyndham Championship, a tall task considering he has only one top 10 this year.
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