The Cognizant Classic officials didn’t take much time to throw out the fan who was involved in the verbal altercation with Billy Horschel. The eight-time PGA Tour winner revealed in the post-round interview that he didn’t request the expulsion of the fan, as officials did it on their own.
On Friday, February 27, Billy Horschel found himself in a verbal altercation with a fan who was sledging him with “overseed,” referring to the golfer’s comments on the changed layout of PGA National. The 39-year-old confronted the crowd, and both had a heated argument, after which Horschel triple-bogeyed the par-3 15th.
During the post-round interview, Horschel shared what happened after the altercation at the Cognizant Classic:
“The officers came up to me after I walked off 16 and said, ‘We kicked him out’, and I said, I didn’t ask for him to be kicked out. They said, no, I guess he’s been saying some other stuff throughout the day, and they proceeded to just escort him out of here,” he revealed.
“Listen, everyone has a right to say things. I think there’s just a level of respect that — when somebody is trying to do their job — understand, we’re trying to do a job out here. Listen, we are really good golfers, and we can make the game look very easy, but at the end of the day, it is a job. A lot of us are playing for victories. A lot of us are playing for our cards. A lot of us are playing for many different things,” he added.
He insisted that he is open to interacting with the crowd as much as possible but that it must be respectful.
“But like I said, it’s fine. I don’t care. At that moment I hit a bad golf shot. I questioned somebody, and the guy said a few more things, and I just said, You need to be more informed on what I said,” he concluded.
When will Billy Horschel tee off at the Cognizant Classic, Round 3?
Billy Horschel is paired with David Ford and Garrick Higgo for the third round of the Cognizant Classic 2026. The trio will tee off on Saturday, February 28, from the 10th tee at 9:04 a.m. ET.
Following the first two rounds at the PGA National Resort, Horschel is at even par and is 11 strokes off the lead. Austin Smotherman continued to hold the lead after carding a 2-under 69, while Taylor Moore was sitting in solo second after shooting back-to-back 67s.
Here’s a look at the leaderboard for the Cognizant Classic 2026 after Round 2:
- 1. Austin Smotherman: -11
- 2. Taylor Moore: -8
- T3. A.J. Ewart: -7
- T3. Nico Echavarría: -7
- 5. Joel Dahmen: -6
- T6. Mark Hubbard: -5
- T6. Kristoffer Reitan: -5
- T6. Pontus Nyholm: -5
- T6. Hank Lebioda: -5
- T6. Aaron Rai: -5
- T6. Shane Lowry: -5
- T6. Jimmy Stanger: -5