Billy Hurley III to skip British Open to attend sister’s wedding

Billy Hurley III has made his choice, and he’s going to choose family over the British Open.

The newly minted PGA Tour winner announced Tuesday that he’ll attend his sister’s wedding the week of the year’s third major instead of making the trip to compete at Royal Troon.

The Naval Academy grad earned a spot in the Open after winning the Quicken Loans National on Sunday, but he knew he had a pretty big conflict.

“I wouldn’t miss my sister’s wedding for the world, and I think that at this point in time for me and my family and the trajectory of our family, it’s very important for me to be there to support her and her new husband,” Hurley said, according to USA Today.

“It was a pretty easy decision at the end of the day. She tried to not really influence me a ton on Sunday night, but I called her while I was playing, and she started crying. I mean, so she was pretty thrilled that I’ll be there.”

Hurley’s emotional win, which came a year after making a public plea at the same tournament to find his father who had left home without warning, not only got him into the year’s third major, but it also landed him a spot in this week’s no-cut WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

“I don’t think they were expecting me here,” Hurley said. “My locker is kind of in the corner and there’s a parking spot back in the back of the lot and everything. But happy to have just both of those this week, to be honest.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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