'Can you rein Billy in?' Billy Horschel picked by Davis Love III to U.S. Presidents Cup team

Billy Horschel once said that he’d wear a skirt in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup match, if he thought that would motivate his teammates.

He’s got two weeks to shop or raid his wife Brittany’s closet.

The Ponte Vedra Beach resident and University of Florida graduate finally realized one of his career goals on Wednesday when U.S. Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III made Horschel one of his captain’s picks for the matches Sept. 22-25 at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.

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Horschel, 11th on the Presidents Cup points list, joined Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, PGA Tour rookie Cameron Young, Max Homa and Kevin Kisner as Love’s wild-card selections. The top-six in the points list are automatic qualifiers: Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau.

Will Zalatoris was seventh in points but is out because of a back injury.

Love wants to tap Horschel's passion

Love said Horschel’s fiery personality and passion for golf is something he wants to channel for the matches

“Billy is passionate about playing for the U.S. and clearly one of the most passionate players on the PGA Tour,” Love said on Wednesday during a video conference. “We’re hearing his voice a lot more lately [on issues facing the PGA Tour] and a lot of guys appreciate his position about playing on this team.”

Love asked if Horschel’s enthusiasm and emotion on the golf course would actually need to get reined in.

“Can you rein Billy in?” Love said. “I’ve been around him a lot over the years and I haven’t figured that out yet. You ride his wave a little bit. He can certainly be over the top sometimes but that’s what we want. We want Billy on the first tee at Quail Hollow … they’ll [the fans] will be over the top and he’ll be over the top.”

Horschel, who is in Virginia Water, England, preparing to defend his title at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship, was not immediately available for comment. He posted on Twitter: "Finally made one! Going to enjoy every minute of this competition!"

International captain Trevor Immelman made his captain’s picks on Tuesday, tapping 2017 Players champion Si Woo Kim, Sebastian Munoz, Taylor Pendrith, Cameron Davis, Christaan Bezuidenhout and K.H. Lee to join automatic qualifiers Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners, Mito Pereira and Adam Scott.

Several close calls

Horschel’s selection marks the first time he will play on an international match-play team as a professional. It’s been one of his lifelong goals in golf and his fiery personality should translate well to the team format.

“It would have haunted me to end my PGA Tour career without it happening,” he said of not making either a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup team.

To this point, his main contribution to U.S. match play has been a hot streak in 2014 that resulted in a change in the captain’s selection process for the Ryder Cup.

The captains made their wild-card picks after the PGA Championship in August at the time and Horschel wasn’t on the radar to make Tom Watson’s 2014 team.

Horschel then caught fire in the FedEx Cup playoffs, tying for second and winning twice to capture the FedEx Cup. But because the team was already set, the hottest golfer on the planet missed out on the Ryder Cup.

The PGA of America then gave captains one pick after the Tour Championship, beginning in 2016. The change was called “the Billy Horschel Rule.”

Horschel was close to making U.S. teams two other times, finishing 15th in Presidents Cup points in 2013 and 14th in 2015.

Memorial victory boosted Horschel's chances

But with the 2021 matches pushed to this year because of the postponement of the 2020 Ryder Cup to last year, Horschel had more time to build up his points. In the last three seasons, he’s posted 17 top-10s, 30 top-25s and won twice, including the 2021 WGC Dell Match Play.

He won The Memorial in May, after runner-up finishes in the Zurich Classic team event (with Burns) and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and followed up his Dell Match Play title with a tie for ninth.

Horschel is 15th on the world golf rankings and tied for 21st in the final FedEx Cup standings.

Solid record in team events, amateur match play

Horschel has excelled in professional team events with various partners and in the WGC Match Play.

He has four finishes of 17th or better in the Match Play, has won twice in the Zurich Classic and posted seven top-five finishes in nine starts in the QBE Shootout, an off-season event in Naples.

Horschel had a solid record in amateur match-play competitions when he was at Florida, going an overall 7-4-1.

He went 3-1 in the 2007 Walker Cup, helping the U.S. defeat Great Britain/Ireland 12.5-11.5 at Royal County Down in Northern Ireland. He split singles matches with Rory McIlroy, winning 1-up and falling 4 and 2, but he and Rickie Fowler had a doubles victory over McIlroy and Jonathan Caldwell, 2 and 1.

Horschel played on two Palmer Cups, which matches U.S. college players against Europe, and had a record of 4-3-1. He won all four of his matches in 2007 at Caves Valley in Maryland, when the U.S. won 18-6.

Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Billy Horschel lands spot on U.S. Presidents Cup team as captain's pick