One of the top names missing from the field at The Masters early last month was 30-year-old Billy Horschel, a four-time Tour winner whose famous 2014 FedEx Cup Playoffs tear won him the FedEx Cup title that year.

 
Horschel might not have qualified for Augusta, but after his thrilling playoff victory at last week’s Byron Nelson in Texas, he will not start the season 0-2 in major starts, as he jumped high enough to qualify for next month’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

Bullets

• The Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), updates every Monday.
• With his win at the AT&T Byron Nelson, Horschel earned 50 World Ranking Points, moving him from World No. 76 to 44.
• The top 60 in the OWGR this week (as of May 22) all earn automatic bids to the U.S. Open, which is being held June 15-18 at Erin Hills, just outside of Milwaukee Wisconsin.
• Horschel began the 2017 season ranked No. 70; his all-time high ranking was No 13 after his victory at the 2014 Tour Championship.
• Horschel has played the U.S. Open five times, with a best finish of T4 at the 2013 edition at Merion.

Quotable

“There’s a couple reasons I came here [AT&T Byron Nelson]. I don’t think I have to worry about now but fortunately I was outside the Top 50 so I wasn’t qualified for the U.S. or British Open. It sucked this year. It honestly sucked to miss the Masters. I hated it.”
–Billy Horschel

This post appeared originally as part of the Daily Rundown.