A right-hip injury interrupted Billy Horschel’s 2025 season and forced him to miss around six months of competition. The surgery for the same injury ruled him out of the remaining three major championships and damaged his Ryder Cup hopes. He couldn’t play the FedEx Cup playoffs, too. At the time, the American professional had described the operation as a ‘preventative measure’ and hoped to return by late summer or early fall. But the issue was much worse than he had let everyone know.

“It was just more damage in there, just more damage. The labrum tear was bigger, the hip impingement had to be fixed, I had two micro fractures that take a year, two years to fully heal. There was a lot more to when they got in there than the scans showed. All that means is it just takes more time to heal. I couldn’t do any damage so there was really no point to sit at home and work on the game. I was going stir crazy, I think my wife may have killed me or at least divorced me possibly because I was home,” Billy Horschel said after his opening round at the Wyndham Championship 2026.

“No, it was just one of those things where I felt I was good enough to go play and I did, but I honestly, I wasn’t really good enough to go play. Game wasn’t close enough, the body wasn’t good enough. It was just one of those things I had to sort of fight through and try to find some way to play well. I wouldn’t do it any other way than I did it.”

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The eight-time PGA Tour winner returned to competitive golf in September 2025 at the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour. Before his return, he attempted to lower expectations. While he had said that there was no pain and that his golf game was in reasonable condition, he didn’t expect himself to start performing immediately. Instead, he focused on returning to form gradually and removing the rust before the 2026 season begins.

Billy Horschel’s message since then has been clear. He has repeatedly said that his body is becoming stronger and the pain is subsiding. However, he is not at 100% yet. In December 2025, after multiple starts following his return, he noted that his hip flexor was tight because he was not walking enough.

Then, in February 2026, he said something similar to what he told the media today. Speaking with 5 Clubs, he said that the labrum had healed. However, the surrounding muscles still needed to rebuild endurance. He also noted that the micro-fractures are still healing, but he was ahead of the rehabilitation schedule he had. Today, he said the same thing about building endurance.

“Endurance wasn’t there. There’s still the strength side of it that has got a lot better; endurance and strength have gotten better over the years. There’s still a little issue with the hamstring-sort-of-glute muscle connection that I have to deal with.”

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year, he said his hip felt tired, sore, and painful that morning. The 39-year-old noted that it is a day-to-day problem, but he didn’t blame it for playing poor golf. That poor golf has put him in a tight spot this year.

In the 23 starts so far, Horschel made the cut in only 13. Therefore, he stands 107th in the FedEx Cup rankings and 176th in the World. This means that he will miss the FedEx Cup playoffs this year, too.

Billy Horschel’s comments highlight how much more difficult his recovery has been than initially expected. With his hip still rebuilding strength and endurance, his 2026 season has reflected the challenges of returning from such a serious injury.