‘Quiet leader’ Furyk relishes role as Ryder Cup captain
Jim Furyk on Wednesday was appointed captain of the United States team for the 2018 Ryder Cup in France, where the US will try to win on European soil for the first time in 25 years.
Furyk was a unanimous choice by the Ryder Cup committee last month.
The former US Open champion, and the only player in history to twice post rounds in the 50s, brings more playing experience than any other US captain.
Furyk played on nine consecutive teams starting in 1997 and was an assistant captain to Davis Love III last year at Hazeltine.
Love will be one of his assistant sin France.
“Davis is going to be a very tough act to follow,” Furyk said from PGA of America headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
“He put a system in place. He put the players behind it. It won’t make my task easier, but it makes it easier knowing there is a system in place.
“To have him by my side — his advice, his experience, two captaincies and one vice-captaincy — is going to be priceless for me.”
The Americans reshaped their thinking after the 2014 loss at Gleneagles, where Phil Mickelson publicly questioned Tom Watson’s leadership and the lack of player involvement.
That spawned a Ryder Cup Task Force that allowed for more input from the players, and now a Ryder Cup committee comprising three players (Mickelson, Love and Tiger Woods) and the top three PGA of America officials.
Part of that model was to allow for more consistency, such as captains previously serving as assistants.
The committee met on Dec 6 and decided on Furyk, waiting until the start of the new year to announce him.
PGA of America president Paul Levy said it took Furyk “one second” to accept the job.
Jordan Spieth and Brandt Snedeker were among players who thought it was the right choice.
Spieth referred to Furyk as a quiet leader, and smiled when he added that Furyk would “embrace the idea of having an away game.”
The Americans haven’t won on the road since 1993 at The Belfry, when Love was a Ryder Cup rookie, Woods was in high school and Spieth was two months old.
“He’s got a lot of scar tissue in the Ryder Cup,” Spieth said, referring to five Cup losses Furyk has endured in front of European fans.
“I think it will be more fulfilling being there, having a chance to win. He can take the disappointment of all those Ryder Cups and throw that down the drain with a win.” Furyk agreed. While he said it would be a challenge to win at Le Golf National outside Paris, where the French Open has been since 2002, he considers it chance to end a losing streak that has been around as long as he’s been on tour.
“Our team hasn’t won in 25 years — I’ve heard that a lot today,” Furyk said. “But I view it as an opportunity. It’s exciting, and it’s a new day and age for the US Ryder Cup team. We have some momentum right now.”
Furyk is 46 and still going strong on the PGA Tour.
He is No 37 in the world rankings and had a chance to make his 10th straight Ryder Cup team last year except that he missed the first four months of the year recovering from wrist surgery.
He set a PGA Tour record in August with a 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship. He shot 59 at the BMW Championship in 2013.
The Ryder Cup has not had a playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 at East Lake, and Furyk wasn’t ready to consider the prospects of playing in France even if he were to qualify for the team.
“I don’t want to say ‘no.’ My main focus and what I’m interested in now is a captain,” he said.
“Worrying about where my game is putting the cart before the horse, in my opinion. My main goal is being the best captain I can, and providing the best 12 players with an atmosphere for success.”
Thomas Bjorn was appointed European captain last month.
Furyk said he and Bjorn walked one match together at Hazeltine and talked about the future, including the prospect of both being captain. The two never faced each other in the Ryder Cup as players.
Furyk had a 10-20-4 record in his nine Ryder Cup appearance, with more losses than any other American since the competition began in 1927. He delivered a key singles victory over Sergio Garcia in 1999 when the Americans rallied from a 10-6 deficit at Brook line.