Jim Furyk said the differences in pressure between Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup are real
Jim Furyk knows full well that his playing record is much better in the Presidents Cup as opposed to the Ryder Cup.
So is the overall U.S. record.
"We've had a lot of success in the Presidents Cup ... not the Ryder Cup," the Jacksonville resident said earlier this week.
Furyk, who was named the 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup captain for the matches at Royal Montreal, has a 20-10-3 record in the Presidents Cup, which matches the U.S. vs. an International team.
He's also played for Presidents Cup teams that have gone 5-1-1.
Furyk's record in the Ryder Cup is 10-20-4 and the U.S. is 2-7 when he's played. And that's not to single out Furyk — Tiger Woods (13-21-3), Phil Mickelson (18-22-7) and Davis Love III (9-12-5) also have losing Ryder Cup records, and winning Presidents Cup records.
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Furyk, who was the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for a loss in Paris in 2018, said it's a matter of history. The Ryder Cup has been around since 1927 and it's become huge since Continental Europe was added to the mix in 1987.
So has the pressure — on both sides.
The Presidents Cup began in 1994. The U.S. is 12-1-1 in that event and 4-9 in Ryder Cups during that time frame. While the European teams have had their share of stars — such World Golf Hall of Fame members Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sandy Lyle -- the International teams have included Hall of Famers Greg Norman, Nick Price, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh, along with those waiting in the wings one day for their call, such as Jason Day, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama.
So it's not an issue of one team being that much better than the other. The weight of history seems to be the difference.
"I think we've always gone into the Presidents Cup a touch more loose," Furyk said. "We wanted so badly for our team to do well in the Ryder Cup that I think we've gone in too tight."
Since the PGA of America established its Ryder Cup Task Force following a loss in 2014, the U.S. has been much more competitive. The U.S. has won two of the last three Ryder Cups but will be trying to win on European soil for the first time since 1993 in Italy this fall, under captain Zach Johnson of St. Simons Island, Ga.
Even though two organizations run the two match-play events (the PGA of America operates the Ryder Cup and the PGA Tour the Presidents Cup), Furyk said the best practices have been shared by captains in both events.
Plus, the captaincies have been interchangeable: since the Ryder Cup task force was created, Furyk, Love and Steve Stricker have led Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, with Woods (the 2019 Presidents Cup captain), the presumptive favorite to lead the U.S. in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park.
"We get to do this every year and we've built a good program over the past 10 years or so," Furyk said. "You can approach both events similar, from year to year, and we've got a rotation of captains that know the players and the players know the captains."
Since the Ryder Cup Task Force was formed, the U.S. is a combined 5-1 in international match play.
A seed planted at Sea Island
Talor Gooch figured out the winning formula in professional golf at the Sea Island Club two years ago on St. Simons Island, Ga.
He's been on the verge of a run like this ever since.
Gooch became the first player to win two LIV Golf League individual titles last week, two-putting for birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Sergio Garcia at the Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore. Gooch won his first tournament the week before in Australia.
Gooch has led following a LIV Golf round nine times, a record so far in the second year on the tour. He's led or shared the lead after every round in the last two events, shot 36-under and has a scoring average of 65.5.
He's also earned $8 million in two weeks and nearly $9 million for the season.
Gooch was billed as one of the next stars out of Oklahoma State but he missed 15 of his first 27 cuts on the PGA Tour. He broke through at the 2021 RSM Classic with a final-round 64 and a three-shot victory over Mackenzie Hughes. Gooch set the course record at the time with a 20-under 260.
Gooch said he will remember his second victory mainly because of his playoff partner.
“I grew up watching Sergio," he said. "He’s one of the greatest golfers of this generation. To go and battle with him and come out on top is something I’ll never forget.”
LIV Golf returns to the U.S. next week at the Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.
Fond memories
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has good memories of an earnest young club pro at the Urbana (Ill.) Country Club when he was a member.
He's happy that Lee Smith has risen through the ranks of being a PGA professional club pro, general manager and tournament director to become the executive director of The Players Championship last month.
"He was thought of well by the membership," said Khan, who later purchased the club. "We were sad to see him move on but that's what life brings."
Smith worked primarily within the TPC Network after leaving Urbana, making stops at TPC Sugarloaf, TPC Scottsdale, TPC Summerlin and then working as the TPC regional director of operations.
Smith gave lessons to Khan's son Tony, who Smith remembered was "smart as a whip."
Family race to the Open
PGA Tour veteran Matt Kuchar is currently ranked No. 47 in the world and needs to stay among the top-60 over the next three weeks to be exempt for the U.S. Open in June at the Los Angeles Country Club.
He may have company.
Kuchar's 15-year-old son Cameron shot 69 earlier this week in a U.S. Open local qualifier at Wellington National near West Palm Beach and finished second, one shot behind medalist Jordan Gumberg. The younger Kuchar will play in a 36-hole sectional qualifier on June 5 and depending on the size of the field, will have to finish among a set number of leaders to qualify for the Open.
PGA TOUR
Event: Wells Fargo Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte.
At stake: $20 million purse ($3.6 million and 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner).
Defending champion: Max Homa.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m.); CBS (Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).
Area players entered: Tyson Alexander, Harris English, Lanto Griffin, Brian Harman, Zach Johnson, Patton Kizzire, Russell Knox, David Lingmerth, Keith Michell, Trey Mullinax, J.T. Poston, Doc Redman, Sam Ryder, Greyson Sigg, Davis Thompson, Michael Thompson.
Notable: Homa shot 68 in the final round and beat Patrick Cantlay and Matthew Fitzpatrick by two shots. ... Also playing are Rory McIlroy, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.
LPGA TOUR
Event: Hanwha Lifeplus International Crown, Thursday-Sunday, TPC Harding Park, San Francisco.
At stake: $2 million purse.
Defending champion: South Korea.
TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m.).
Area players entered: None.
Notable: The team competition features defending champion South Korea, the U.S., England, Japan, Sweden, Australia, Thailand and China. ... The U.S. players are Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Lexi Thompson and Lilia Vu. ... The teams play three day of fourballs and the top-two from each four-team pool advance to Sunday, where they will play two singles matches and one foursomes match.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Event: Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Friday-Sunday, TPC Sugarloaf, Duluth, Ga.
At stake: $2 million purse ($300,000 to the winner).
Defending champion: Steve Flesch.
TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 12-2 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 6-9 p.m.).
Area players entered: David Duval, Jim Furyk, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh.
Notable: Flesch fired a closing 65 and topped Fred Couples, David Toms and Padraig Harrington by one shot and Ernie Els by two.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jim Furyk believes U.S. match-play is trending up in Ryder, Presidents Cups
