The last time the Ryder Cup was hosted on European soil, Jim Furyk was captaining the United States team. Unable to lead his side to victory as they eventually lost 17.5 to 10.5 to the Europeans in the 2018 Ryder Cup, the 17-time winner on the PGA Tour understands what works and what doesn’t in the team locker room.
While Furyk was captain, vice-captains David Duval, Matt Kuchar and 2023 US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson were instrumental in providing additional support. With the Ryder Cup traveling to Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside Rome, Italy, later this year, Johnson has already enlisted the services of Davis Love III and Steve Stricker, with more vice captains to follow. .
On Thursday, Furyk joined CBS Sports headquarters for the 2023 PGA Show and offered the most important advice for a successful Ryder Cup captain.
“The staff you bring in, the players you bring in as vice-captains, they’re going to be crucial to your [the captain] — the eyes, the ears that you have on the golf course,” Furyk said. “Being a vice captain in the Ryder Cup, you’re closely involved with a group. You usually have a group of people, four people you join with, you are on the golf course after every single shot of the match for every session and you are the captain’s eyes and ears.
“The captain becomes more like the CEO; he doesn’t watch a lot of golf. You have to trust, you have to depend — people on TV are watching every shot, or a lot of them. The captain himself a lot. Sees, very, very little golf, basically par 3s … So you really have to rely on your staff and the people that you put in there.”
Furyk continued: “At the end of the day I loved being captain and I loved being vice captain because you get so involved and get to see so much golf, and I was working so hard for those two guys, but in the end : It was my job to go back to the captain and tell him what I see out there, who’s playing well here, who’s not here, they’ll be a better fit for this format, that format. I got that part of it. I think every captain is surprised by how little golf they actually see during the week. I knew it, I was prepared for it and I was still shocked that the week in Paris How little golf I’ve seen in the end.
Furyk most recently served as a vice captain under Stricker in the US team’s 19-9 defeat of Europe in the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. With Johnson still needing to round out his leadership room for Rome, it will be interesting to see whether Furyk gets the nod once again.
