Breakfast Ball #38: Horschel Hammers it Home

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Billy Horschel Wins the BMW PGA Championship for the Second Time in Three Years

Billy Horschel won his second BMW PGA Championship title with an eagle in the second playoff hole to fend off Rory McIlroy. The American has become a staple on the DP World Tour the past few years after the PGA Tour season ends, mainly due to his love for West Ham. Horschel has followed the team ever since he watched Green Street in the early 2000s, and has even used a West Ham bag when he plays in The Open. In 2021, he became the first American to win the DP World Tour’s signature event since Arnold Palmer 46 years prior, and was the first to win a second title with an impressive performance this weekend.

Horschel’s third round included a stretch where he had 7 consecutive birdies with a combined 130 feet of putts. He went into the final day tied with McIlroy in second, three shots behind overnight leader Matteo Manassero. However, Manassero could only manage an 73 (+1) on Sunday which ruled him out of contention. It came down to the final two holes. McIlroy eagled the 17th to tie the lead with Thriston Lawrence, who was looking for his first win of the season after finishing as a runner-up four times so far in 2024. Horschel went into the 18th one shot behind, but was able to get up and down from 90 yards to birdie the final hole and force a 3-way playoff.

After Lawrence bogeyed the first playoff hole, Horschel and McIlroy battled it out for the win. McIlroy went very close with an eagle putt, but had an easy tap in for birdie. However, a season of agonizing defeats continued for McIlroy as Horschel canned a 30-foot putt for eagle to take the victory.

Other Notable European Results:

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Matt Baldwin, 🇮🇹 Matteo Manassero, and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Aaron Rai were the closest to the leaders, finishing in a tie for 4th

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Tommy Fleetwood, 🇮🇪 Padraig Harrington, 🇮🇪 Shane Lowry, and 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Bob MacIntyre all finished in a tie for 12th, 8 strokes behind the playoff pack

• Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin pushed himself into 13th place in the DP World Tour rankings with a T10, which would be enough for a PGA Tour card for the 21-year-old if he finishes there at the end of the season

Matteo Manassero’s Career has been a Rollercoaster. It is on the Ascension Once Again

Charles F. Kettering, an influential American inventor and engineer of the early 20th century, left an indelible mark on modern life. By the time he concluded his career as the head of research at General Motors, Kettering held 186 patents, with his most notable invention being the electric starter. Every time you start your car or power up your lawnmower, you owe a nod of gratitude to Kettering. His life was guided by a core belief: “high achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectations.”

For Kettering, the weight of expectation was a motivator, but for others, it can be a burden. Many child prodigies have been crushed under the immense pressure to succeed. Matteo Manassero, a golf prodigy, nearly saw his career end because of it.

Born in Negrar, a small town in Northern Italy near Lake Garda, Manassero was the epitome of a child prodigy. He became the youngest golfer ever to win the British Amateur, make the cut at The Masters, and win a European Tour event—all before turning 18. In 2013, at just 20 years old, he secured his fourth European Tour title at the BMW PGA Championship, seemingly destined for superstardom.

However, like many golfers in pursuit of perfection, Manassero made the fateful decision to change his golf swing and switch club manufacturers in late 2013. The result was a dramatic decline in performance. By 2015, he had made only five cuts in 23 starts. After several years of struggles, Manassero lost his DP World Tour card in 2018. His game continued to deteriorate, and in 2019, he made only one cut in 19 global tournaments. This led him to step away from the sport entirely for three months. Reflecting on that dark period, Manassero said, “I literally couldn’t play anymore. Golf had become too heavy on me. That was a tough realization. I had always played golf in a free and joyful way, but I knew I had to rebuild myself.”

By 2020, his world ranking had plummeted to 1,805th, forcing him to compete on the third-tier Alps Tour. But September 2020 marked a turning point when he won the Toscana Open, his first victory in seven years. That win earned him a promotion to the Challenge Tour, but the road back was still rocky. After two winless years on the Challenge Tour, Manassero sought help from Danish coach Søren Hansen.

Rather than overhauling his game, Hansen guided Manassero in refining his strengths. Their breakthrough came the week before the Danish Challenge in 2022. "With his support, I had a plan for my swing that week. It wasn't always perfect, but I was very clear on what I had to do,” said Manassero. The clarity paid off—he won the tournament and later secured another victory that season, reclaiming his DP World Tour card for 2024. Since then, Manassero has made the most of his second chance. In March 2024, he won his first DP World Tour event in 11 years and now ranks 5th on the DP World Tour, with a PGA Tour card for 2025 within reach.

From the brink of quitting to reestablishing himself at the top of the game, Manassero’s journey is a testament to resilience. With yesterday’s T4 result at the BMW PGA Championship, he is in the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time since 2014. Here's to more success for Matteo Manassero, as he climbs back to the summit of professional golf.

Other News and Results

• 🦘 Ripper GC won the LIV Golf Team Championship after three days of competition ending in a stroke play victory by three shots

  • Ripper GC is an all-Australian team of Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, and Matt Jones

  • The first two days of the tournament were a matchplay event to whittle down the teams to a final four, before a single day of team strokeplay to determine the overall champion

  • Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII managed a 4th place finish despite his absence due to severe flu symptoms

• 🇩🇪 Thomas Rosenmueller became the second European to secure his 2025 PGA Tour card through the Korn Ferry Tour after a T2 finish at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship

  • 3 more Europeans could secure a card at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship is this weekend: 🇩🇪 Jeremy Paul, 🇳🇴 Kris Ventura, and 🇸🇪 Pontus Nyholm

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 John Parry won his third Challenge Tour event of 2024 at the Italian Challenge Open, earning an automatic promotion to the DP World Tour

  • The 37-year-old had his first DP World Tour season in 2010 when he also secured his only win, but recently struggled in lower level tours

Coming up this week on Tour

• The President’s Cup is a biannual team competition between the US and an International team made up of players from the Rest of the World outside of Europe

  • This year’s edition takes place this week at Royal Montreal

• The Spanish Open is the next event on the DP World Tour

  • Jon Rahm is currently in the entry list, and needs to play to maintain his DPWT membership for Ryder Cup eligibility

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