{"id":548893,"date":"2026-04-24T20:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548893\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T20:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T20:39:09","slug":"usas-plan-to-win-ryder-cup-reappoint-jim-furyk-one-of-their-worst-captains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548893\/","title":{"rendered":"USA\u2019s plan to win Ryder Cup? Reappoint Jim Furyk, one of their worst captains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Furyk is set to be announced as the USA\u2019s Ryder Cup captain for next year\u2019s event in Ireland despite previously overseeing the team\u2019s biggest away defeat in 20 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2003 US Open champion, 55, endured a terrible time when his American misfits lost 17\u00bd-10\u00bd to Thomas Bjorn\u2019s European team in Paris in 2018. There was also an ugly postscript, with Patrick Reed damning his pairings and the decision to sit him out of the foursomes, while Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson had to be pulled apart at the post-event party. Furyk is not a natural rabble-rouser but countered Reed\u2019s claim that he was blindsided after being paired with Tiger Woods by saying: \u201cHe knew who he was playing with, that\u2019s all I\u2019ll say.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Furyk, though, will get another chance. Woods had been the PGA of America\u2019s first choice, but he was already prevaricating before his car crash and arrest for driving under the influence<\/a> in March. The 50-year-old is now receiving addiction treatment in Switzerland while awaiting his court hearing in May, and has said that he is stepping away from golf and did not want to be considered for the role at Adare Manor in September 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TeamFuryk dropped the lid of the Ryder Cup at the team photo before the 2018 eventTimes photographer marc aspland<\/p>\n

However, the PGA of America did have options. Steve Stricker was the last US captain to win, albeit on home soil, in 2021, when he picked Scottie Scheffler, who had not yet won on the PGA Tour. Stewart Cink had said he was interested, while Brandt Snedeker will lead the USA at this year\u2019s Presidents Cup. <\/p>\n

Justin Leonard was also considered a potential choice. He is well-versed in Ryder Cup hysteria after sinking the putt at Brookline in 1999 that prompted premature celebrations and Alistair Cooke\u2019s missive that we had witnessed \u201cthe arrival of the golf hooligan\u201d, but he is a far cooler head than those extracts suggest and called for the crowd to be \u201crespectful\u201d before last year\u2019s rancorous contest at Bethpage Black.<\/p>\n

Webb Simpson\u2019s passion was clear from the 4am text he sent to the former captain Tom Watson before his selection in 2014, and he has a solid Ryder Cup record and vice-captaincy experience.<\/p>\n

Instead, though, the PGA of America opted for a man whose four picks in 2018 managed only two points. It is unknown whether Furyk was the second or even third choice, but while he has vast experience, the bulk of it came on the losing side and his appointment will not concern anyone in the European camp. Furyk was also a vice-captain at last year\u2019s event, when Keegan Bradley was vilified for pairings that baffled fans and Europe\u2019s statisticians alike.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Stuart,Woods was the PGA of America\u2019s first choice before his arrest in MarchMartin County Sheriff\u2019s Office\/Alamy<\/p>\n

With overseas wins so rare \u2014 the USA have not triumphed in Europe since 1993 \u2014 sticking to the status quo looks like a timidly unimaginative call, but the PGA of America seems to crave a semblance of normality after so much turbulence. Europe have broken with tradition by giving Luke Donald a third consecutive term \u2014 reasoning that if it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it \u2014 and he has already made his first visit to Adare Manor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Woods\u2019s previous delaying meant the Americans were late in choosing Bradley last time, and the waters were further muddied when he refused to rule out becoming a player-captain until he announced his picks. Whether Furyk, so embedded in the USA team after three stints as vice-captain, is the man to rip up the system is debatable.<\/p>\n

On the plus side, Furyk, who won two Ryder Cups as a player and lost seven, is certainly less emotional than Bradley, and the sum of 2018\u2019s failings cannot all be laid at his door. He will surely find it easier this time without Woods and Phil Mickelson in the team.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, 150,000 Irish residents pre-registered for Friday\u2019s exclusive ticket sale and a limited number of tickets for competition days went in under an hour. Tickets for practice days also sold out. The pricing of tickets has been widely criticised, with a competition day pass costing \u00a3433<\/a>. A public ballot for those outside Ireland opens on June 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Furyk is set to be announced as the USA\u2019s Ryder Cup captain for next year\u2019s event in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-548893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}