CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Billy Horschel might understand better than anyone that the guy playing the best all year on the PGA Tour is not necessarily going to be the FedEx Cup champion.
He lived that very scenario 10 years ago.
Horschel happened to be playing strong golf over several weeks, winning consecutive tournaments and the FedEx Cup title. He wasn’t the guy with the best summer or even the best year.
He was barely a factor in the biggest tournaments in 2014, his name hardly registering. And prior to the PGA Tour’s playoff events he had posted just two top-10 finishes, none since June.
So Horschel had good timing, a factor as big in the FedEx Cup playoff scenario as it is to have a good year.
That’s why he doesn’t agree with Scottie Scheffler’s assessment that calling it a “season-long’’ race is silly.
“It's never rewarded the best player throughout the regular season,” Horschel said Wednesday at Castle Pines, where the BMW Championship begins Thursday. “I won the '14 FedEx Cup. Rory McIlroy was clearly the best player that year. He had won two majors. He came in on a high note. I was 69th in the start of the FedEx.
“I missed the first cut (when there were four playoff events). I go second, win, win, and I win the FedEx Cup. It's no different than the New York Giants and beating the New England Patriots (following the 2007 NFL season) and starting the playoffs 9-7 I think it was, and the Patriots being undefeated and then winning the Super Bowl.
“I think if you asked two other guys there's two different opinions you're going to get on the FedEx Cup and what they think is the best way, but I believe that our system and the way we do it—could we reward the regular season a little bit more? Sure, we can. But this is a playoffs. Anything can happen.”
Horschel’s run a decade ago actually started after a missed cut at Barclays. Then, the first two playoff events had 36-hole cuts. He tied for second at the Deutsche Bank Championship, then won the BMW in Denver at Cherry Hills—the last time it was played in the area.
He went on to win in Atlanta, playing with McIlroy, No. 1 in the world at the time, over the final 36 holes at East Lake. He won by three strokes over McIlroy and Jim Furyk.
Despite playing for massive sums for the majority of his career, a $10 million bonus ($1 million was deferred into a retirement account) was a substantial boost for Horschel, now an eight-time PGA Tour winner. While the prize money in golf is such that the sums become mind-numbing, the bonus that came Horschel’s way turned into good for others.
He paid his caddie, Micah Fugitt, a $1 million bonus. He eventually set up a foundation in the Jacksonville, Fla., area where he lives, and became active in other charitable causes.
“I was a blue collar kid, truly blue collar,” Horschel said. “I had a dad who worked construction for 50 years. Neither of my parents had a college degree. There were times that one of my parents were out of a job for months at a time, so I don't come from money. I've never had money in my life. So to win the FedEx Cup in 2014 was life-changing and the fact that it financially set me and my family up for the rest of our lives pretty much, that was a big moment in that aspect, knowing that as long as I continue to play well and I'm smart with my money, I'm pretty much financially secure for the rest of my life.”
The Horschel Family Foundation is relatively new, but Horschel immediately began supporting various charities in his hometown. He started an American Junior Golf Association event in his name, as well as an APGA event. His foundation has several aspects, including mental health and addiction.
“I think most people are aware that my wife (Brittany) struggled with alcohol and she’s eight years sober,” he said. “As you go further in life, whether it’s financially or non-financially, you want to give back and that’s always been something that’s been in my wife’s heart and mine and we’re trying to do a really good job of helping people.”
One of those was Fugitt, who worked for Horschel for several years before the two parted in 2017. He worked for numerous other players in the interim before getting back with Horschel prior to the 2023 PGA Championship.
The money helped Fugitt set up his kids for college—they are now 11 and 16 and “they’ve got the option now to be able to use that however they want,” he said. He also bought a new house in the Waco, Texas, area where he lives.
The split, he said, was just part of caddie life.
“It’s business,” Fugitt said. “I understand and you learn that it’s usually not personal and there’s no point in hurting relationships. He was playing great back then and things came back around.”
Since getting back together, they’ve seen some highs and lows, including a difficult stretch last summer that saw Horschel shoot 84 at the Memorial—a tournament he had won a year earlier.
But he has bounced back with a solid 2024, winning the Puntacana Championship. He was in contention at the British Open at Royal Troon, where he held the third-round lead before finishing tied for second behind Xander Schauffele.
He has since posted a tie for seventh at the Wyndham Championship and a tie for 10th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship to get to 19th in the FedEx Cup standings.
It’s a long way from 10 years ago, a time in which much has evolved, including his game.
“I'm never satisfied with wherever I am in the game of golf,” Horschel said. “I'm always trying to get better. I sort of live by the motto that if I'm not trying to get better on a daily basis, then I'm already getting worse. I'm already getting passed by people.
“But I've gotten longer as a player. I've gotten more—I say intelligent about how to prep and prepare and get ready for tournaments, how to dissect a golf course, how to get around the golf course.
“I think emotionally and mentally just the way I handle myself on the golf course is completely different. But that's 10 years ago. I was 27. I'm 37. I hope I've learned something in those 10 years and I've gotten smarter, and I think I've done that.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 10 Years After His Stunning FedEx Cup Title, Billy Horschel Is Still Evolving.
