Billy Horschel Ends 144-Day Injury Break to Announce Next Career Step Following His DP World Tour Resignation

Nearly two weeks ago, Billy Horschel teased fans with an Instagram video, announcing his return to playing competitively. After nearly three months on the sidelines recovering from hip surgery, the 2014 FedExCup champion confirmed he was targeting a September comeback. Now, it’s official, as he posted a new update giving fans the final confirmation they’ve been waiting for.

Late on Thursday, Horschel took to X with a short but telling post — “I’m doing a thing! @bmwpga”. With that, the 38-year-old confirmed Horschel confirmed his competitive return will come not on the PGA Tour, but on the DP World Tour as he will tee it up at the BMW PGA Championship, one of the flagship events on the DP World Tour, set to be played from September 11–14 at Wentworth Club. This would be Horschel’s return to competition after nearly 140 days of absence, as he last teed it up at the RBC Heritage in April.

This update comes a few weeks after he officially announced his return with an Instagram post captioned — “It’s official…. Returning to the game I love next month @bmwpga!” In the video, Horschel expressed his appreciation for the tournament and explained why he chose to return to playing here after his hiatus. “I think I’ve talked about for many years how special this place is. Growing up watching it on TV and then to finally play it six, seven plus years ago for the first time, and then to call myself now a two-time champion is surreal,” he added.

But as he announced his return, Billy Horschel also confessed that he would be resigning from the DP World Tour for the remainder of the 2025 season. Due to his hip injury, Horschel was not able to fulfill the DP World Tour’s minimum event requirement for 2025, and found it difficult to balance playing on two tours.

However, his status as a past champion, with victories at Wentworth in 2012 and 2024, grants him an exemption to compete next week, despite no longer being a full-time member. That said, Billy Horschel also made it clear that this isn’t a permanent exit from the DP World Tour — “I am committed to being a full D.P. World Tour member in 2026 again. I’ve enjoyed being a D.P. World Tour member over the last handful of years.”

For now, his focus is firmly on making a strong return, with Wentworth providing both a meaningful stage and familiar ground to the American. But his absence hasn’t just meant time away from the course; it’s also come at the cost of missing out on some of the biggest platforms this year.

Billy Horschel missed playing in the majors because of his injury

Billy Horschel officially joined the PGA Tour in 2011 and has earned his way to participate in the majors since 2013. His best finish that year was at the U.S. Open, where Justin Rose earned his first major title at the Merion Golf Club. Horschel finished tied 4th at the event and has continued playing in all the majors (barring 2018) since then. This year, he played the 2025 Masters (missed cut) and announced his decision to take a break in May, just before the PGA Championship.

“Health update. After consulting with doctors and my team, I have decided to have right hip surgery early next week out in Colorado,” Horschel posted on X. “It’s an unfortunate situation with so many great events left on the calendar, but this is a preventative measure,” he added, feeling the weight of missing the next three majors of the season. The surgery sidelined him for the entire summer and forced him to miss the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship, and the Open.

But the surgery and the break seemed much needed for him, as he was having a difficult season on the PGA Tour. In his last event, the RBC Heritage in April, he finished tied 27th. Before that, Horschel had 5 missed cuts in 11 events, but also managed to bag two top-10 finishes, at the 2025 Valspar Championship and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But despite the difficulties, let’s hope he’s back in form next week, both physically and mentally, as he returns to a course where he’s found success, and perhaps a bit of inspiration in the past.