Weekly Recap: Horschel Hits a High Note

It's hard to think of Billy Horschel as a top-10 golfer, which is just fine because he's not and has never been. But he's now the next best thing, at No. 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking, after comfortably winning the Memorial Tournament Sunday for one of the biggest wins of his career. He was four shots clear of runner-up Aaron Wise and at least six better than everyone else.

Horschel ascended to his personal-best ranking thanks to his second win in the past 15 months and the seventh of his PGA Tour career. But the previous win was the 2021 Match Play event and the one before that was the 2018 two-man Zurich Classic.

To find Horschel's last individual stroke-play victory you have to go all the way back to the 2017 Byron Nelson.

So considering that, we'll reiterate that it's hard to think of Horschel as a top-10 golfer. But he is ahead of guys whom we do think of in that vein -- or at least had in the past -- and they are Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson. Horschel is also ahead of a bunch of other guys whom you might think are better than him, among them Hideki Matsuyama and Max Homa.

So, how did Horschel wind up so high in the rankings? Well, he also won the prestigious BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour last September the week after the TOUR Championship. Some talented Europeans were in the field, but no other top-flight Americans. This year, he's been sixth in Phoenix, runner-up at Bay Hill and ninth at the Match Play in defense of his title. That's it. Those are his only top-10s on the PGA Tour this season.

Look, Horschel is obviously very good, and quite probably a future inductee in the Hall of Very Good. He doesn't hit the ball far, he doesn't do any one thing elite, but he also doesn't have a weakness in his game. He's just very solid, which, again, doesn't sound like a top-10 golfer.

But of course Horschel could become a top-10 guy very easily, maybe without even playing the upcoming Canadian Open. He trails Jordan Spieth 5.63 to 5.23 in the complicated world of OWGR points. That's probably too far to make the jump when both guys are idle.

Surely what's contributing to our thinking of Horschel as very good but not great is his record in big tournaments. Yes, he's won two playoff events, including the TOUR Championship, but those came in that one surreal two-week sequence way back in 2014. He's never had a top-10 in THE PLAYERS. His major record is -- how can we put this delicately? -- horrible. He's been in 34 of them and has made only 23 cuts while recording seven top-25s and a single top-10, which was a tie for fourth at the 2013 U.S. Open in just his second career major appearance. He's never had so much as another top-15. In his past 11 major starts, Horschel has all of one top-25. He was 43rd at The Masters in April, 68th at the PGA Championship in May. He missed the cut at last year's U.S. Open.

We'll see Horschel in two weeks at The Country Club for the U.S. Open. There's nothing in the previous paragraph to indicate a good week likes ahead, one that could propel him into the top 10 for the first time in his long and very good career.

But until then, he's still No. 11.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Aaron Wise
Many expected big things from Wise after a great second half of last season, us included. It didn't materialize instantly, but he's starting to heat up now. Wise was solo second at a track that suits his game quite well, giving him top-25s in five of his past eight starts. Importantly, he zoomed from 88th in the world rankings to a career-high 44th to earn a berth in the U.S. Open by virtue of being in the top 60 on Monday and therefore not having to qualify. Brookline will have one of the strongest fields of the year, but a top-25 is not out of the question with the way Wise has been playing.

Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay tied for third at one of his favorite tracks, where he'd won twice in the previous three years. He's now up to a career-best third in the world with his sixth top-10 in 11 starts in 2022. You'd think he'd be on the short list of favorites for Brookline. The thing is, Cantlay has been terrible in majors of late, without a top-10 in his past 11. He missed the cut at the PGA.

Joaquin Niemann
Niemann impressively did not really tail off after his big win at Riviera in February. He missed the cut the next week at the Honda, but since then he's made seven straight cuts with five top-25s, including four in a row right now thanks to a tie for third at the Memorial. He won't be among the top tier of favorites for the U.S. Open, but he could very well be in the next level.

Max Homa
A few weeks ago, we saw Homa win for the second time this season and third over the past two years. What's happened since has been almost as important: consistency. Homa had been contending only when he won, but since the Wells Fargo title last month, he was 13th at the PGA – his best major finish ever – 25th at Colonial and now fifth at the Memorial. Homa moved into the top-25 for the first time in his career and, like Niemann, could be on that second tier of favorites for Brookline in two weeks.

Will Zalatoris
A tie for fifth. Zalatoris got his foot right back on the gas pedal after a missed cut at Colonial. He should be among the top tier of favorites for the U.S. Open.

Sahith Theegala
Theegala had not come close to replicating his tie for third at Phoenix back in February, though he continued to make just about every cut – there's definitely something to be said for showing up every week. At a tough Muirfield Village track in a tough field, he tied for fifth. This is the progression of a young player getting better. He's now up to a career-best 116th in the world rankings – that's right, Theegala is not even a top-100 player yet. Well, at least according to the OWGR. Like many other guys, he'll be attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open on Monday.

Denny McCarthy
McCarthy just had the best result of what's turning into his best season on the PGA Tour. He tied for fifth. That's his third top-10 of the season and he's made 18 of 22 cuts. He sits 53rd in the FedEx Cup point standings. Before you say it's too early to talk about the FedEx standings, take a look at the schedule. It's pretty late in the season. The Tour Championship is in 12 weeks.

Jon Rahm
Rahm salvaged a backdoor top-10 on a track where he's won and almost won again last year. The storyline that he had unfinished business from last year, when he had to withdraw with a six-shot, 54-hole lead after testing positive for COVID-19, sounded good and all that. But when you are not playing anywhere close to as well as you were a year ago, that will determine your place on the leaderboard. Right now, it's hard view Rahm on the same level as Scottie Scheffler or Justin Thomas at the U.S. Open.

Sungjae Im
It's been a pretty quiet 2022 for Im, who hasn't contended for a title since winning the Shriners event early in the fall swing. But he has eight top-25s in 13 starts in 2022, including four in a row, with the latest being a tie for 10th at the Memorial. Im is surely improving his stock two weeks before the U.S. Open.

Brendan Steele
Steele opened 2022 with five straight missed cuts. Brutal. But since then he's made six weekends in a row, all at tough courses, including a T13 at THE PLAYERS, a tie for ninth at the PGA Championship and now a tie for 10th at the Memorial. He still has to qualify for the U.S. Open on Monday, but if he gets in, his game is well suited for The Country Club and his DraftKings price certainly will be in the $6,000s.

Cameron Smith
Smith looked like he would finally end a string of horrible results at Muirfield Village – he had never so much as cracked the top-60 in six Memorial appearances before this year. Suddenly, he was in contention as the 36-hole leader this year only to blow up with a 77 on Sunday to fall to 13th place. He is one of the five top-10 golfers who will tee it up this coming week at the Canadian Open before playing the U.S. Open.

Mito Pereira
Another good week, two in a row after the disastrous finish at Southern Hills. Pereira tied for 13th, and now will rest for a week before getting back into the fray at another major.

Davis Riley
Riley continued his heater with a tie for 13th, his fifth straight top-13 showing. He still has to qualify for the U.S. Open on Monday just like so many others. Having to play 36 holes a day after completing 72, it's no sure thing he gets in, not even for someone as hot as Riley.

Luke List
List turned in his best result since his breakthrough win at Torrey Pines way back in January, and it came at just the right time. He tied for 26th -- that's right, he doesn't have a top-25 in 12 starts across the five months since winning -- to move to 59th in the world rankings. The top-60 qualify for the U.S. Open in two weeks.

Francesco Molinari
The final leaderboard will show that Molinari tied for 26th, which would be one of his best results of the season. But he began Sunday in the top-5 and fell way back with a 78. Still, he's made three cuts in a row, including a T17 at the Byron Nelson. The way Molinari has played the past few years, he has to consider this recent stretch a very positive development, even with Sunday's big fallback.
 
Bryson DeChambeau
DeChambeau looked as you would expect someone who hadn't played in two months and coming off left wrist surgery. He missed the Memorial cut by seven shots. DeChambeau won't be at this week's Canadian Open so we'll see him next in two weeks at the U.S. Open, where he presumably will still be rusty.

Harris English
Like DeChambeau, English was returning from injury -- surgery on his left hip -- only he was out far longer, since January. English, who finished one shot behind DeChambeau, will also skip the Canadian Open and play at the U.S. Open, where he too will still be rusty.
 
Collin Morikawa
Unlike DeChambeau and English, Morikawa cannot blame his week on rust or an injury. He missed the cut at a course where he's won and finished second in the past few years. Morikawa would be in the Tour Championship if it started today, based on three top-5s from earlier in the year -- at Waialae, Riviera and Augusta -- though he truly contended at none of them. He has not had a top-25 in his past five starts, and he is far from the golfer we saw the past few years.

Matt Fitzpatrick
Fitzpatrick missed the cut and, even though it was for the second time in four starts, it's hardly a concern at this point, after a runner-up at the Wells Fargo and a tie for fifth at the PGA Championship in his two previous starts.

Marc Leishman
A missed cut left Leishman outside the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time in more than five years. Aside from a brief spell in the fall of 2021, he simply has not been the same golfer since the pandemic hit two-plus year ago.