Horschel backs Thomas to prove Ryder Cup critics wrong

Billy Horschel has backed Justin Thomas to "stick it" to those who criticised his Ryder Cup wild card.

Thomas admitted he was "very, very fortunate" to be selected by United States captain Zach Johnson after a poor season in which he failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup play-offs and carded what he called a "humiliating and embarrassing" second round of 81 in the US Open.

The two-time major winner also shot an first-round 82 in the Open at Royal Liverpool and finished 15th in Ryder Cup qualifying, behind both Cameron Young and Keegan Bradley and just one place above the in-form Lucas Glover.

However, Johnson hailed Thomas as the "heart and soul" of American teams after selecting him along with Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth to face Europe in Rome.

Horschel, who played alongside Thomas in the 2022 Presidents Cup, believes his chances of a wild card were less than 50/50 when he missed out on the play-offs but that his rivals then failed to do enough to justify selection.

"Those guys that were being mentioned for being picked, they didn't really do anything special in the play-offs," Horschel said.

"Keegan played well the last one, but he didn't really do much around there and before the play-offs after his win in the Travelers (Championship).

"I think the way our side looked at it, they sort of took the European method and Justin's record in team competitions has been unbelievable the last six or eight years.

"I think it's the best of any American in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup combined and so they are going with 'Hey, this guy shows up, he produces' in these formats. Yeah, he may not be playing the best going into it but we expect he's going to show up as he always does.

"I expect him to