Florida Gators star Billy Horschel falls short at 2024 Open but finishes second for best career major finish

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It had been 35 years since a former Florida Gators golfer won a major championship entering Sunday’s final round at the 2024 Open Championship, and it will now be at least 36 before it happens again. Billy Horschel, who led through 54 holes at Royal Troon entering the final round, ultimately fell in Scotland to fellow American Xander Schauffele, who claimed his second career major in three tries this year.

Horschel played stellar golf to put himself in contention and took pole position twice Sunday with a birdie at the 6th being the last time he topped the leaderboard. Bogeys on the 8th and 10th pushed him three strokes back of Schauffele, though Horschel struck a flurry to end his round with three straight birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th coming in to finish tied for second place with Justin Rose — the best finish of his career at a major championship.

Horschel and Rose will each bring home $1,443,500 for their second-place finishes.

“I played a good round of golf, made a couple bad mistakes out there that I don’t normally make,” Horschel said after the round. “… Shooting 6 under on the day, you got to tip your cap to [Schauffele]. … I’ve always known I was good enough to compete in a major and have a chance to win. I just had to get out of my way on the side of perfection. I realized I don’t have to be perfect to have a chance to win a major.”

On Saturday, Horschel became the first Gators golfer to lead a major in 19 years. Chris DiMarco topped the 2005 Masters leaderboard after 18, 36, 54 and even 72 holes before ultimately and excruciatingly falling to Tiger Woods in a playoff at Augusta National.

Horschel’s 54-hole lead was the first after any round in his major career. On Sunday, he claimed just the third top 10 across 43 major appearances following a T4 at the 2013 U.S. Open and T8 earlier this year at the PGA Championship.

The last Florida golfer to win a major was Mark Calcavecchia at the 1989 Open, which happened to hosted by the same course at which Horschel made his run this week, Royal Troon.