Billy Horschel withdraws on first day of 3M Open with illness

BLAINE, Minn. — Billy Horschel, who tied for second at last week’s Open Championship after holding the 54-hole lead, withdrew from the 3M Open on Thursday morning due to illness.

“I wasn’t feeling great late last night and took some medicine,” he told the tour’s communications staff about an hour before his tee time. “Had decent sleep but woke up and just have a fever, body is just not wanting to respond, every muscle feels like it’s locked up. Tried to do a little warmup in the gym, just didn’t respond. Tried to go out to the golf course and hit some balls, body’s just not wanting to cooperate.”

Horschel shot 3-under 68 in last Sunday’s final round at Royal Troon and finished tied for second with Justin Rose, two strokes behind Xander Schauffele. He arrived in Minnesota on Monday.

Horschel finished 13th in last year’s event at the TPC Twin Cities.

Entering the week 28th in the FedEx Cup standings, Horschel has five top-10 finishes this season, including a win at the Corales Puntacana Championship in April.

Adam Long replaced Horschel in the 156-player field.