With the Scottish Open just days away and the Open Championship around the corner, PGA Tour is heating up. And Rory McIlroy is back where it all began, Royal Portrush.

Just days ago, McIlroy was spotted visiting the course. But while the grand slam winner sharpens his game for a potential comeback on home soil, one of his longtime rivals-turned-friends dived through their memory lane.

Currently sidelined for his hip injury, Billy Horschel appeared on The Thing About Golf podcast this week and shared his unfiltered first impression of a teenage McIlroy.

“There was a kid by the name of Rory McIlroy. He has done okay in his career!” Horschel joked. “He had just finished low amateur at Carnoustie… He was only 17 at the time.”

The two first met at the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down, where Horschel admitted he didn’t quite grasp how good McIlroy was until he saw it firsthand.

“He did not come over to America to play that I can remember… But we knew he was really good,” Horschel said.

“I played against him a couple of times and what he showed was a lot of talent and ability. A lot of belief.”

Their early encounters weren’t exactly warm. Horschel confessed he was trying to be “the Sergio Garcia for the American side,” adding:

“I probably went overboard a little bit… I thought Rory was great and said if you need anything in America I am happy to help, and the next day I read some comments [from him]. I’m like, well this is as expected.”

Fast forward nearly two decades, and the rivalry has evolved into mutual respect.

Horschel edged McIlroy in a playoff at the 2024 BMW PGA Championship, just three months after Rory’s gut-wrenching U.S. Open loss to Bryson DeChambeau.

“From there until where we are now, I think the world of him,” Horschel said. “We have a great friendship. We text… We’re completely different people now.”

Reflecting on McIlroy’s journey, Horschel added, “We knew he had ability, but what he has accomplished in the game of golf was historic. It wasn’t one we didn’t believe could happen, but you just never know how it is going to pan out.”

As McIlroy prepares for his return to Royal Portrush, where he once shot a course-record 61 at age 16. The golf world waits to see if he can finally break through and win on home soil, after coming so close in 2019.

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