“I’m going to beat his A**” - Rory McIlroy jokingly reveals Billy Horschel as the player he'd most like to punch

Rory McIlroy attended this week's GOLF Subpar Podcast with co-hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz and answered a few fun questions. He was asked nine questions about golf and his life in a rapid fire manner, and he had to answer them in a fun way.

Rory McIlroy was asked a rather fun question by the host — which would be the golfer that he would most like to punch, Patrick Reed or Billy Horschel. To that, McIlroy replied jokingly, according to golf.com:

“Billy Horschel, and that’s saying something,” McIlroy said, laughing. “And that is saying something.”

While McIlroy and Horschel are good friends now, it was not the case back in 2007. It was the time when the U.S. vs. Great Britain and Ireland squared off in the Walker Cup at Royal County Down. Horschel and Rory McIlroy faced off against each other in three out of the four matches.

McIlroy recalled:

"Billy in that ’07 — we were all probably obnoxious at the time, but because I was at home as well and he was like pretty rude to the crowd at times too and they are my people. It was like, ‘I’m going to beat his a**.’"

Eventually the Americans won 12.5 to 11.5, and it became a great rivalry story for the ages. The hosts knew about this story, and hence asked Rory McIlroy the cheeky question.

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Rory McIlroy explains old rivalry with Billy Horschel at Walker Cup

Billy Horschel beat McIlroy on the first day of the matches. On the second day, Rickie Fowler and Horschel teamed up to beat McIlroy and Jonathan Caldwell. However, McIlroy shot back, beating Horschel in the second singles match.

When Horschel appeared on the same podcast in 2021, he talked about the matches with McIlroy. He spoke about the intensity of the matches, and how much they mattered to both the golfers.

The rivalry was intense between both the golfers back then, but they have more than made up for it now.

He said:

“Ohh, I absolutely despised him. We’ve actually become really close since, which is great. But we actually have forged a really good friendship since. Billy’s a good dude. I like him a lot.”

Needless to say, this friendship between them has blossomed and has been seen on and off the course.