Jim Furyk admits that his USA team will be rank outsiders as they seek to end an away hoodoo in the Ryder Cup and taste victory on European soil for the first time since 1993.
It will have been 34 years since that famous day in the Belfry by the time the 2027 Ryder Cup rolls around at Adare Manor with the USA experiencing defeats at Valderrama, the Belfry again, Celtic Manor, Gleneagles, Le Golf National, Marco Simone and of course, the K Club, the last time Ireland hosted the Ryder Cup twenty years ago.
Both Furyk and European captain Luke Donald played on that rain sodden weekend in Kildare with Europe running out 18.5-9.5 winners. But it’s the emotionally charged atmosphere from the fans around Darren Clarke, whose wife Heather had passed away weeks before the contest, that Furyk remembers most.
“We all have a dear friend in Darren Clarke. My memory of that week was so special,” said the American who played in nine Ryder Cups.
“Darren was going through such an emotional time, his teammates rallied around him and I think he has a lot of great friends on the American team that rallied around him. To see the heartwarming support he got from the fans that week brings a tear to the eye. That is my special memory of that week, Darren is a good friend and someone who I think is loved around the world.
“My memory is the fans, not the result. It was a blowout win for Europe. I remember the weather, I have been here a lot this year probably 12 to 14 days and I have seen a lot of sunshine, lot of heat, not a lot of breeze. I know we need to be ready for anything.
“My memory of the K Club especially early in the week was the amount of rain and the conditions to practice in.”
The Americans have struggled in foursomes in recent contests across the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup losing 26-8 collectively in foursomes and 13-3 against Europe. They have been whitewashed four times in that format since 2023.
Furyk insists it is top of his agenda to eradicate and his team will prepare better than ever before heading to Limerick next year.
“It’s a recent thing for us. When I started playing we were struggling in the fourball. It’s not an anomaly there are issues. It’s not something I am very happy with. I plan on making changes we need to do better at putting the folks into pairings for those matches but I don’t think we are preparing for those matches properly and I promise we will be prepared.
“I’m going to ask this team to do more [preparation and pre-event work] than any other United States team has done in the past. We will be prepared and ready to go in that format. We have too much depth to have that poor record.”
So with a shocking foursomes record including world number one Scottie Scheffler winning one of nine matches in that format, and without an away win since 1993 maybe the USA are the underdogs for the next contest and not the perennial favourites they are usually viewed as.
“We know what we are up against, it’s been 34 years since we won in Europe. There is no secret so I am going to embrace it. Luke and Dodo have set the golf course up to tip the scales for Europe. We’re the underdogs.
“It’s always been the Americans who seem to be the favourites, this year there is no chance of that. We are the underdogs, we understand that and we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Certainly, Furyk, who is getting his second stint at the captaincy after a losing effort in Paris in 2018, will hope his leadership skills are better than his hurling skills.
“We landed in May I came in on the red eye was tired and JP [McManus] was taking us to the Tipp [v Limerick] game. They let me know that at half time I was going to hit an honorary ball. It freaked me out a little bit, it wasn’t a wide open pitch at the time there was about 100 people out there and I was afraid I might hit someone. I made contact I hit it on the ground I took the safe route, I got a golf clap it wasn’t the best shot.”
Leave a comment