Team USA have finally landed on their Ryder Cup captain, and it will be Jim Furyk taking charge for the second time.
Furyk’s tenure as captain back in 2018 was disastrous. Team USA was demolished 17.5-10.5, as Furyk inexplicably picked an out-of-form Phil Mickelson for the team, who didn’t score a point, and split up a highly successful pairing of Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth.
Furyk then served as Vice Captain for the last two American losses at the Ryder Cup in Rome and Bethpage Black, but the PGA of America still believes he is the man to lead them in Ireland against Europe’s greatest-ever captain, Luke Donald.
Donald is going for a record three-straight Ryder Cup wins as captain in Adare Manor, and now Furyk has been appointed, the chances of that happening are far greater. Donald took to Instagram to send a message to Furyk when he was announced.
Donald will go head-to-head with Furyk at Adare Manor, but now isn’t the time for gamemanship or competitiveness.
A year away from the event, now is the time for sportsmanship, and the ever-classy Donald recognized that.
The Englishman took to Instagram to reply to Furyk’s announcement post, saying, “Congratulations Jim. Diane and I look forward to sharing this special experience together with you and Tabitha over the next 17 months 🏆”
Donald and Furyk are already familiar with one another because of the time Furyk has spent as Vice Captain during Donald’s captaincy, but they are about to become sporting adversaries in Ireland.
It’s nice that they’ve started out on the right foot, however!
This might be the first time Furyk and Donald will go head-to-head as captains, but they are familiar foes in the Ryder Cup. Between 2004 and 2010, they played against each other three times.
Donald won all three of those matches in both team and singles events. They played one-on-one in 2010 at Celtic Manor, and Donald won 1-up on Sunday to secure the point.
The other two events were played in foursomes, the first in 2004. Furyk and Fred Funk faced Donald and Garcia, and once again, Donald won 1-up.
In that match, Furyk was overmatched, but not when they went head-to-head in 2006. This time, he partnered with Tiger Woods, but again lost to Donald and Garcia, this time 2-up.
There is plenty of history between these two, and Donald will hope to add another win to his record against Furyk at Adare Manor.
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