Billy Horschel was victorious at Wentworth on Sunday, in the DP World Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship.
A well-renowned West Ham fan, Billy Horschel won his second DP World Tour tour title at Wentworth, and his 11th as a professional golfer.
From Oscar winning actress Dame Helen Mirren, to actors Ray Winstone and Danny Dyer and WWE Superstar Triple H, West Ham’s list of celebrity fans is as long as it is star-studded.
Horschel shared with Sky Sports back in 2021 his love for the Hammers:
“My stats guy, Mark, is from England and he’s also a West Ham United fan,” Horschel said.
“We’re having a hell of a season, incredible after almost being relegated last year, and to have a chance to make the Champions League is truly amazing.
“Mark Noble sent me a text. I’ve never met Mark, but he got my number from Francesco Molinari and sent me a text yesterday. That was one of the coolest things, and we were texting back and forth.
“I’m excited to see what the last part of the season has in store for West Ham. I think David Moyes has done an unbelievable job, and Jesse Lingard has been a key addition to the team.“
And since then, Billy has supported us from all around the world, including numerous trips in person to the London Stadium.
The 37-year-old is not alone when it comes to Hammers supporting golfers.
Francesco Molinari and Paul McGinley are huge West Ham fans as well.
And Horschel felt the full support of the Hammers faithful during his historic win at Wentworth on Sunday afternoon.
West Ham fan Billy Horschel wins DP World Tour title at Wentworth
Horschel finished the 72-hole tournament at -20, level with Rory McIlroy and Thriston Lawrence.
The American and the Northern Irishman both birdied the first play-off hole, whilst the South African was eliminated after being unable to match them.
Then it was a head-to-head battle between Billy and Rory. The West Ham fanatic made a magnificent eagle down Wentworth’s famed 18th hole to take the trophy, and with it, the £1,150,000 first prize.
After his tremendous victory, Horschel spoke to reporters about the love he felt from the Hammers fans out on the course, as quoted by WHUFC.com.
“Wentworth is the course with the loudest West Ham fans!” smiled the 2021 champion. “I hear so much of ‘Come on you Irons!’ and ‘Up the Hammers!’ and get serenaded throughout the golf course with ‘Forever Blowing Bubbles’, so that would probably be the one on a regular basis that is the loudest!”
“It was nasty weather on the Saturday walking up onto number 12 green and it happened a few other times, getting serenaded with ‘Forever Blowing Bubbles’ from about 200 fans was pretty special,” he recalled. “I had goosebumps and the hairs on my arms were sticking up, so that was a pretty memorable moment right then and there.”
How good is that to hear. When your back is against the wall and you need something to lift you, what better than being serenaded with our famous anthem!
Horschel a Hammer through and through
Despite the fact that his ‘stats guy’ is a West Ham fan, his love affair with the club is actually completely unrelated.
It was the 2005 film Green Street starring Charlie Hunnam and Elijah Wood that sparked Horschel’s obsession with the Hammers.
Back in 2023, he explained how much the film impacted him during his college years, as quoted by Golf Monthly:
“During my sophomore year of college I moved into a new apartment and the cable wasn’t going to be hooked up for a couple of days so we went to Best Buy and bought a couple of DVDs, one of those DVDs was Green Street.“
“I loved the movie, I loved Charlie Hunnam as an actor and obviously the film is about the firms at Millwall and West Ham, from there I started following them. Since about 10-12 year ago I’ve been paying really close attention to them since NBC Sports starting showing Premier League games.“
Whilst the film itself was particularly cringey with extremely suspect accents from certain actors, we gained one fan through the making of it!
And the 37-year-old American is quite the fan to have.
Billy Horschel winning the DP World Tour BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth was clearly a hugely important moment for him.
And every single West Ham fan on the planet would have been delighted for him. Well done Billy!