What Winning the 2014 FedEx Cup Means For Billy Horschel's Career

Billy Horschel flashed a wide, winning smile of relief as he completed his Tour Championship victory to take the FedEx Cup title, which came with an equally huge $10 million bonus and the expectations that more good things are on the horizon.

The 27-year-old Horschel has a lot to smile about these days.  His overall payday amounted to $13.44 million, including $1.44 million for winning his first Tour Championship, $1.44 million for winning the BMW Championship, $597,000 for his second-place finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship and the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.

He will become a father shortly, as his wife, Brittany, is expecting their first child within two weeks.

If Tom Watson were picking today, he probably would have taken the red-hot Horschel as a 2014 Ryder Cup captain’s pick.

Does his win, making him the youngest to achieve the feat, launch Horschel into a different category?  Can he now be considered one of the next young stars on the pro tour?

With three PGA wins, Horschel has to be considered a front-runner in future events.  He plays with a passion and a focus that separate him from his peers, and he has seemingly matured right before our eyes.

Winning on such a big stage is exactly the kind of thing that can lift a player to the next level.

As resume-builders go, winning the FedEx Cup is a big one for Horschel. He showed flashes of brilliance before the playoffs but had only one win to his name, last year’s Zurich Open in New Orleans.

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Who could have predicted that the guy who started the playoffs in 69th place would end up going T2-1-1 in his three last starts?  In the playoffs, he shot a record-breaking 12 consecutive rounds in the 60s (Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have each tallied 11), which was also the longest streak of the 2013-14 season.

We can’t quite put Horschel in the same category as Rory and Tiger, but he definitely elevated his status and his game with the FedEx title and the way he captured it.

While he may have had reason to doubt himself after missing the cut at The Barclays, he rebounded in a way that heralds him as a rising star.

After winning the BMW Championship, he envisioned his success when he told reporters, “If I was a betting man, I would put some money on me. ... I'm not going to go ahead and guarantee a victory right now, but I will say that I'm probably going to play very well, and I will have a chance to win on Sunday.”

After firing a two-under 68 for a 72-hole total of 269 and a three-stroke victory over McIlroy and Jim Furyk, he admitted to the media, “Maybe that’s why when I woke up this morning I was calm knowing that this is my chance to win the FedEx Cup trophy.  It may sound crazy.  People may think I’m insane, but honestly I don’t care now.”

His bold statement wasn't as bombastic as that of Patrick Reed, who called himself a top-five player in the world after a win at Doral earlier this year.  Horschel, by the way, is ranked 14th in the world, having moved up from 23rd.  Reed is 27th.  This is after finishing 2013 in 41st place.

Horschel joined another elite group with his back-to-back playoff wins. Woods (2007), Vijay Singh (2008), Camilo Villegas (2008) and McIlroy (2012) are the only others to accomplish that feat.

Horschel has played in only a handful of majors, with little success, although he gained some notoriety when he held the lead with Phil Mickelson halfway through the 2013 U.S. Open.  He ultimately finished in a tie for fourth.

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With the way he played at East Lake, knocking back McIlroy, Furyk and a slew of top-notch competitors, why shouldn’t Horschel be a future major title contender?

Perhaps more importantly, he puts his name at the top of the list of young players who could bolster America’s position in world golf.  Imagine if he and Chris Kirk had been Tom Watson’s choices as 2014 Ryder Cup captain’s picks.

“I’m sure Tom Watson is kicking himself at the minute,” McIlroy told reporters, referencing the upcoming Ryder Cup event.

If the Americans are looking for someone young enough and tough enough to compete with McIlroy, they have found him in Horschel.

He readily admitted the same thing when he told the media, "I’ve shown I can go toe-to-toe with the best player in the world and come out on top, and that’s going to be huge for me going forward."

Interestingly, Horschel has experience playing against McIlroy.  At the 2007 Walker Cup, he beat McIlroy twice, first in singles and then when teamed with Rickie Fowler.  At the time, the two did not quite hit it off, due to Horschel’s rambunctious ways.  They are now tour-hardened rivals who have put their youthful pasts behind them.

Horschel left the best for last in a season in which he really had not done much.  Coming into the playoffs, he had finished tied for 47th at Wyndham Championship and tied for 58th at the PGA Championship.  Then, he missed the cut at The Barclays, and it looked like he would be finished early.

But he changed his putting grip and didn’t make a three-putt in 175 consecutive holes.  Talk about poise and confidence. He even rolled in a 30-footer for par on the 16th hole to maintain his one-stroke lead.

He played with a newfound calm that he can rely on in future events.  This is not the same golfer who blew a 54-hole lead at the 2013 Valero Open.  Considered one of the game’s top ball-strikers, he now ranks fourth in greens in regulation, a sure sign of on-course competence.

More importantly, Horschel looked like he was out of the running after The Barclays. But he figured out a way to run to the fore while dominating the last three events of the season.

He showed composure as well as grit in his win at East Lake. This was more than anyone else could muster, and it bodes well for the young father, who should have a lot to smile about in the future.