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Tournament Recap: Horschel Wins 1st PGA TOUR Event at the 2013 Zurich Classic

Published

11 years ago

April 29, 2013

There is a reason why we put Billy Horschel in our “Top 5 Picks To Win” in our Fantasy Golf Odds and Prediction segment for the Zurich Classic.

…And Billy proved us right.

Horschel, the 26-year old Florida resident, came into the Zurich Classic this week with 22 consecutive cuts made on TOUR. His calm and cool demeanor on the course helped him card an 8-under final round (64) for his first PGA TOUR victory.

The former Florida Gator earned his fourth-straight top-10 finish at TPC Louisiana by sinking a phenomenal 27-foot birdie putt to defeat D.A. Points by one stroke. The irony here is that a month ago D.A. beat out Horschel at the Shell Houston Open by just one stroke to claim victory.

Horschel’s final-day score tied a course record and the win moved him up 11 spots in the FedExCup rankings to 3^rd place behind only Tiger Woods and Brandt Snedeker.

“This whole week I felt like I’m going to get my victory here,” Horschel said. “I felt like, you know, it’s got to be sooner or later, and thank God I finally won.”

He began the day two shots behind third-round leader Lucas Glover and quickly grabbed the lead by draining six straight birdies after waiting out the first of two weather delays.

“When a player goes out and shoots 8 under and birdies the last hole to win, hats off to Billy,” said Points, who carded a 65. “He’s played great all year. He was one shot shy of me at Houston and I’m a shot shy of him here. It’s just the way it goes.”

Points added some pressure by hitting out of a bunker to set up a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th. It was then that Horschel calmly rolled in his long 27-footer to nail the victory. With arms pumping and jubilant yell Horschel pulled his hat over his face as the crowd went crazy.

“I was like, ‘If it’s my time, this putt needs to go in,'” Horschel said.

It’s been a great year so far for Horschel as he grabs the $1.19 million purse and a two-year exemption with the victory at TPC Louisiana. We see this as just the start of what looks to be a long and promising career for this talented young player. Look out for plenty more top 10s from Billy in 2013.

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