First Coast, Golden Isles players have a long Ryder Cup history. Here's their track record
The Ryder Cup begins this week at the Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, with St. Simons Island, Ga., resident Zach Johnson serving as the U.S. captain.
Over the 96-year history of the biennial match-play event between the U.S. and Europe, there have been 10 players with First Coast or Golden Isles ties to participate in the Ryder Cup. World Golf Hall of Fame member Sandy Lyle, who has maintained a part-time residence in Ponte Vedra Beach in the past, is the only one to have played for Europe.
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Johnson is the third captain with area ties, following Davis Love III of St. Simons Island (2012 and 2016) and Jim Furyk of Jacksonville (2018).
All three of those captains also played in the Ryder Cup combining for 20 appearances and 77 matches played. Johnson, Love and Furyk combined to earn 32.5 points and were especially good in singles, with all three posting .500 or better records, adding up to an overall mark of 10-6-4 mark.
Here are the Ryder Cup records for players with area ties:
David Duval, Jacksonville
Record: Two Cups, six matches, 1-3-2.
Highlights: Duval was part of the record U.S. comeback in 1999 at The Country Club near Boston, beating Jesper Parnevik 5 and 4. Duval dominated Parnevik on the front nine, going 6-up at the turn.
Fred Funk, Ponte Vedra Beach
Record: One Cup, three matches, 0-3-0.
Highlights: Funk got caught up in the European rout of the U.S. in 2004 at Oakland Hills near Detroit. He played well in Saturday foursomes, combining with Furyk in a 1-up loss to Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald, and then took Thomas Levet of France the distance in singles before losing 1-up.
Jim Furyk, Jacksonville
Record: Nine cups, 34 matches, 10-20-4.
Highlights: Furyk played in more matches in more Ryder Cups and earned the most points (12) of any area resident. He was a Swiss Army knife for captains, with his fairways-and-greens game matching well with almost anyone. He went 2-2 in doubles with Tiger Woods at Ireland’s K Club in 2006 and also played with Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler, Fred Funk and Stewart Cink. Furyk was 4-4-1 in singles, taking down Nick Faldo, Sergio Garcia, Miguel Angel-Jimenez and David Howell. He lost his last three Ryder Cup singles matches in heartbreaking fashion, to Garcia twice and Luke Donald by 1-up scores.
Zach Johnson, St. Simons Island
Record: Five Cups, 17 matches, 8-7-2.
Highlights: Johnson went 4-1 in the 2012 matches at Medinah, going 2-1 in doubles with Jason Dufner and beating Matthew Fitzpatrick 4 and 3 in singles.
Davis Love III, St. Simons Island
Record: Six Cups, 26 matches, 9-12-5.
Highlights: Love’s first Ryder Cup in 1993 at The Belfry in England was memorable. He and partner Tom Kite drew the Spanish Armada in doubles three times – Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal – and managed one victory. But Love beat Costantino Rocca 1-up in singles. In 1999 Love halved all three of his doubles matches, then routed Jean van de Velde 6 and 5 in singles. He went 2-0 with Tiger Woods in doubles in 2002 at The Belfry.
Sandy Lyle, Ponte Vedra Beach
Record: Five Cups, 18 matches, 7-9-2.
Highlights: Lyle had a habit of getting on a roll with the right partner. He and Mark James went 4-0 in doubles in 1981 at Walton Heath, scoring nearly half the total European points in an 18.5-9.5 loss, and then combined with Bernard Langer to go 3-0 in doubles in 1987 at Muirfield.
Billy Maxwell, Jacksonville
Record: One Cup, four matches, 4-0.
Highlights: Maxwell was dominant at the Atlanta Athletic Club in 1963. He combined with Billy Casper and Bob Goalby to go 3-0 in doubles and then beat Christy O’Connor 2 and 1 in singles.
Mark McCumber, Jacksonville
Record: One Cup, three matches, 2-1.
Highlights: McCumber combined with Tom Kite to beat Bernhard Langer and Jose Maria Canizares in a four-ball match, then topped Gordon Brand Jr., 1-up in singles at The Belfry.
Calvin Peete, Ponte Vedra Beach
Record: Two Cups, seven matches, 4-2-1.
Highlights: Peete paired well with another straight hitter, Tom Kite, going 2-1 in two Cups, at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens and The Belfry. Peete was 2-0 in singles, beating Brian Waites and Jose Rivero 1-up.
Dan Sikes, Jacksonville
Record: One Cup, three matches, 2-1.
Highlights: Sikes went 1-1 with Jack Nicklaus in doubles matches in the 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale and then beat Neil Coles 4 and 3 in singles.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: From Maxwell to Johnson, area residents have a long Ryder Cup history
