U.S. captain Jim Furyk said Tuesday it would be “great” if Patrick Reed were among the 12 best Americans for the Ryder Cup next year in Ireland, even though Reed criticized Furyk's first captaincy after the 2018 loss in Paris.
Reed hasn't been on a Ryder Cup team since those 2018 matches, another debacle for the U.S. team that ended with Reed telling The New York Times he should have been partners with Jordan Spieth and Furyk should not have benched
him twice that week.
Reed, among the first to defect to LIV Golf in 2022, chose not to renew his LIV contract this year and leads the European tour points list, assuring him a return to the PGA Tour next year.
“We are going to put the best 12 guys, the best team of 12, on this team,” Furyk said from Adare Manor during a news conference with European captain Luke Donald to mark the matches being one year away. “If Patrick Reed is one of those, that's great. It's been a long time since he's been in our team room.”
Steve Stricker left Reed off the team for the 2021 Ryder Cup the Americans won at Whistling Straits. He was not seriously considered for the Rome matches in 2023 or the Bethpage Black matches in 2025, even though he had top-5 finishes at the Masters both those years.
Furyk already has changed U.S. qualifying for Adare Manor so that no one begins earning points until the 2027 season. Reed, who is No. 29 in the world ranking as he closes out his European tour schedule, could be eligible for signature events if he's in the top 30 at the time of those events.
His last time in the U.S. team room was at Royal Melbourne in 2019 for the Presidents Cup, where he was heckled by the Australian gallery a week after he was penalized in the Bahamas for improving his lie in a sandy waste area.
Six players qualify and Furyk will have six captain's picks for the Sept. 17-19 matches.
“Patrick and I will have that conversation," Furyk said. “And I'm looking forward to welcoming our best team of 12.”
Furyk's more immediate concern was finding a solution for the recent trend of abysmal U.S. play in foursomes. The Americans have been outgained 26-8 in foursomes in the last two Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups. The deficit is 13-3 to Europe in the Ryder Cup.
They have been blanked in three sessions — the opening session at Marco Simone in 2023, and each of the last two times in the Presidents Cup.
“I know those numbers very, very well. I’ve lived them the last four,” Furyk said. "It's not an anomaly. There's some issues — we understand that. I plan on making some changes. As captains, we need to do a better job, not only put the folks into good pairings in good positions, but I don’t think we are preparing for those matches in a proper way.
“And I promise you, we will be prepared,” he said. “I'm going to ask this team to do more than any other United States team has in the past. We’ll be prepared. We’ll be ready to go in that format, and hopefully we can showcase our talent. We have too much depth to have that poor record in alternate shot.”
Furyk said he will ask prospective players to go to Adare Manor next summer around the two-week stretch of the Scottish Open and British Open.
He was in a tough spot as 2018 captain for the Ryder Cup at Le Golf National. The course was set up tight with deep rough. Some players suited for the course were not in great form. Tiger Woods had just won the Tour Championship and Bryson DeChambeau won two playoff events. They combined to go 0-7-0 for the week.
Donald returns as captain for the third time, bidding to become the first captain in Ryder Cup history to lead three teams to victory.
“I have zero complacency about how strong the U.S. are going to be. They always are. On paper, they tend to be stronger than us through the world rankings,” Donald said. "Obviously we have a great record at home, but again, zero complacency. I’ve seen what Jim has been doing behind the scenes, changing the stats, changing the qualification system. He is very, very motivated to come here and put up a good fight.
“Certainly I’m just as motivated to sort of keep finding those edges for my team.”
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