Billy Horschel: LIV players “naive” if they thought they could have it all

Billy Horschel played the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with his wife Brittany

Billy Horschel says he’d have no issue if LIV Golf receive world ranking points as long as they meet the criteria, but believes their players have been “naive”.

The American, who has enjoyed much success on both the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, has been vocal about the divide in golf ever since the Saudi-funded LIV Golf burst onto the scene in June 2022. Now, on the latest episode of the Beef’s Golf Club podcast, he says players who joined the rebel outfit were unwise if they thought they could take the riches while still enjoying all of the benefits they were previously afforded.

Talking to Today’s Golfer columnist Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, Horschel said LIV’s failure to secure world ranking status came as no surprise.

“If they met the criteria that is set by the OWGR (Official World Golf Ranking) then I have no problem with them getting World Ranking points.

“(But) I wasn’t shocked by the no World Ranking points as of right now.”

Most of LIV’s players have been taking dramatic slides down the world rankings since and, unless eligible via exemptions, look set to miss out on playing in the Majors in 2024. However, if LIV were to make changes to their format to meet the OWGR’s criteria, their status could be reconsidered.

“If I’m one of the LIV’s executives, I would look at making those changes to get the [World Ranking] points,” Horschel said.

“You had to understand that if you go to LIV, you may not be eligible for majors, you may not get world ranking points, you’re giving something away to get something in return.

“If you thought you were going to get all these things that you gave up and still have everything you were gaining that’s a very naive way to think in my opinion.”

As a seven-time PGA Tour winner and two-time DP World Tour winner, Horschel has a lot of respect for the traditional tours and no ambitions or intentions to join LIV. And while the Floridian says he has no issue with golf’s newest tour, he does have some gripes with the way some players left for LIV.

“My issue was when the players left, the way they left, the way they sort of just threw shit up on the wall as they walked out, said some stuff that wasn’t true, complained about things that were never brought up when they were on the PGA Tour but they would bring them up as they left,” Horschel revealed.

Away from LIV, the American discussed his hopes of appearing for his nation at the next Ryder Cup at Bethpage in 2025 – something he spoke to Today’s Golfer about at this year’s BMW PGA Championship. Read the full interview.

And with the biennial clash being discussed, Beef couldn’t resist getting Horschel’s view on the most talked about incident from this year’s match in Rome.

“I think he [Joe LaCava] went a little too far, there’s no doubt about saying that,” Horschel said of Patrick Cantlay’s caddie’s clash with Rory McIlroy – an incident he described as very out of character.

Meanwhile, McIlroy has said the incident is now fully resolved.

“Things happen in the heat of the moment, tensions were high,” the Northern Irishman told the BBC at F1’s US Grand Prix. “Joe LaCava came into the European team room on the Sunday night and had a drink and a chat.

“For me, the incident happened, I purposely didn’t want to meet anyone on the Sunday morning because I wanted what had happened to fuel me for that day.

‘My whole focus was let’s make sure Europe win the Ryder Cup and then we will sort all the other stuff out afterwards.

“And it’s all fine. We’re all friends now.”

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About the author

James Hogg – Golf Equipment Writer

James Hogg is a 4.7-handicap golfer and a font of knowledge when it comes to golf equipment. He specializes in clubs, balls, and apparel for todays-golfer.com but also keeps a keen eye on the world’s tours.

James has a degree in English Language from Newcastle University and an MA in Journalism from Kingston University.

You can contact James via email.