Why does Billy Horschel support West Ham? The Open leader’s love for Premier League club obvious with bag
Billy Horschel goes into the final day of The Open in the lead - and he may be getting cheered on in east London.
The American is one shot ahead of English pair Justin Rose and qualifier Dan Brown at Royal Troon.
But despite being from the United States, Horschel is a huge West Ham fan, and the reason for it is quite unusual.
Here, talkSPORT.com looks into why this famous golfer supports the Irons.
Why does Billy Horschel support West Ham?
Well, Horschel's love for the Hammers comes from the film Green Street.
Green Street is a very famous football film about the rivalry between West Ham and Millwall fans, and Horschel watched while he was in college and was hooked from there.
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Speaking about why he supported West Ham, he said: "During my sophomore year of college I moved into a new apartment and the cable wasn't going to be hooked up for a couple of days so we went to Best Buy and bought a couple of DVDs, one of those DVDs was Green Street.
"I loved the movie, I loved Charlie Hunnam as an actor and obviously the film is about the firms at Millwall and West Ham, from there I started following them. Since about 10-12 years ago I've been paying really close attention to them since NBC Sports starting showing Premier League games.
"I'm always watching their matches and any Premier Leagues actually, but I follow them [West Ham] very closely and I'm aware of how they're doing, the transfer window and just a die hard supporter like I am for my Florida Gators."
Horschel even has a West Ham bag for his golf clubs, and it's been on display during the 2024 Open.
Talking to talkSPORT about the bag, he said: "It always goes down well. Whenever I come here the West Ham bag comes out. I love to hear, 'Up the Hammers' and 'Come on You Irons'.
"I've been very fortunate that other supporters of other clubs have been gracious enough to be nice to me compared to maybe how they would be to a fellow English person supporting West Ham."
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He also spoke to talkSPPORT about new Irons boss Julen Lopetegui, and he's excited.
"I think Julen's going to do a good job, I'm excited. Listen, David Moyes was awesome. He took the club from one spot to another and I think it's time to pass the torch.
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"I think Julen's going to do a good job and I think David's got something up his sleeve in the next couple of years and I think the Scottish national job's going to be his."
But as he goes for his first major win, West Ham will most likely be the last thing on his mind.