Furyk drops a hint on 2018 Ryder Cup course
THE US snapped its three-match Ryder Cup losing streak by winning last year at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn., under captain Davis Love III of St. Simons Island, Ga.
The next captain, Jim Furyk of Ponte Vedra Beach, now has his sights set on breaking an even longer streak.
Furyk is the captain for the 2018 matches at the National Golf Club near Paris, where he and European captain Thomas Bjorn made public appearances this week (including hitting shots off the Eiffel Tower).
Furyk took the occasion to suggest that candidates for the American team find a way to enter the French Open at the same course, which is three weeks before the Open Championship, or visit the course after the Open.
It may be a tough request for some players, since the French Open falls the same week as the PGA Tour event Tiger Woods hosts. But the U. S. hasn’t won in Europe since 1993 at The Belfry in England. That was the year prospective US players such as Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger and Xander Schauffele were born.
“I would love to see them make a trip here before the Open Championship or after the Open Championship to see the golf course,” Furyk told the Associated Press. “We have 25 years of scars to overcome. I’m anxious to see how they handle that challenge. Europe has handled those away matches far better in the last 25 years than we have.
Europe is 3-3 in the Ryder Cup in America over that span. The US is 0-5 in Europe.
Furyk said he is not making it a requirement.
“I think it’s going to be an ask and an invite, and I would hope to see some of those players,” he said.