Jim Furyk offers key advice to be a successful Ryder Cup captain: ‘You really have to rely on your staff’
The last time the Ryder Cup was held on European soil, Jim Furyk was captaining the United States team. Unable to lead his team to victory while losing 17.5 out of 10.5 on aggregate to the Europeans in the 2018 Ryder Cup, the 17-time PGA Tour champion understands what works and what doesn’t. results in the team dressing room.
While Furyk is captain, vice-captains David Duval, Matt Kuchar and US Ryder Cup 2023 captain Zach Johnson have additional supporting roles. With the Ryder Cup set to take place at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club outside of Rome, Italy, later this year, Johnson called on the services of Davis Love III and Steve Stricker along with more vice captains to follow.
On Thursday, Furyk joined CBS Sports HQ at the PGA Show 2023 and offered what he believes is the most important piece of advice for a successful Ryder Cup captain.
“The staff you bring in, the players you bring in as vice-captain will be key for you. [the captain] — the eyes, the ears that you get on the golf course,” Furyk said. “As vice-captain in the Ryder Cup, you are closely related to a team. You usually have a group of four that you join, you go out on the golf course watching every stroke of a game in every session, and you are the eyes and ears of the captain.
“The captain became more like the CEO; he didn’t like golf much. You have to rely on, you have to depend on — the people on TV watching every shot, or a lot of them. the captain himself also sees very, very, very little golf, basically par 3… so you really have to rely on your staff and the people you bring there.”
Furyk continued: “Ultimately, I love being the captain and I also love being the vice-captain because you’ve just been involved and seen a lot of golf, and I’ve tried my best for those two, but Ended up in the end. Finally, my job is to go back to the captain and tell him this is what I’m seeing out there, who’s playing well, who’s this, who would be better suited to this format, maybe? I think every captain is amazed at how many golfs they actually played during the week I know it, I was prepared for it and I’m still in shock at the number of golfs I got to see. weekend in Paris.”
Furyk most recently served as vice-captain under Stricker during the US team’s 19 to 9 European qualifying journey at the 2021 Ryder Cup in Whistling Straits. With Johnson still needing to finalize his leadership room for Rome, it will be interesting to see if Furyk gets the nod once again.
