It was a Friday to forget for Jim Furyk as the United States lost all five foursome matches on day two of the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
After a dominant opening fourball session on Thursday, the USA fell apart during the second day. Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama dismantled Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, and Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley suffered defeat on the 18th green.
Furyk’s underfire pairing of Max Homa and Brian Harman also lost on the final hole, and golf fans were far from impressed with Harman’s performance.
Furyk’s decision-making was criticised before the event, and the USA captain has now explained the thought process behind his picks for Saturday’s fourball matches.
Jim Furyk details Russell Henley absence ahead of Presidents Cup fourball matches
Henley and Scheffler dominated during Thursday’s opening fourball matches; Furyk, however, has opted to rest Henley for the early matches on Saturday.
Speaking after the second day’s foursomes, the 54-year-old detailed his reasoning behind moving Henley to the bench.
“I think Mike would sit over there and say the same thing: when you start talking about your best guys, we’re confident in all 12 guys. I think it’s really the combos of fourballs and foursomes. I think it also changes from ten-man to eight-man if that makes sense,” Furyk explained.
“I think I would say the same thing as Mike. We had a pretty good plan or had a plan for Thursday and Friday coming in. You’re going to make some adjustments for Saturday.”
On Henley’s absence, Furyk added: “But I think a lot has to do with your ten-man, eight-man lineups as well. Russ has played his heart out and played great. I guess that’s probably hard not to have him play in the morning tomorrow because he and Scottie have gelled so well.
“But we’re also trying to manage some effort levels, and there’s lots that goes into it emotion-wise as well. I said the same thing yesterday; it’s trying to maximize your ten men on the golf course or your eight men on the golf course.”
Presidents Cup day three fourball pairings
Furyk has also opted to drop Harman, Homa and Sahith Theegala to the bench for Saturday’s opening matches. Harman struggled badly during the foursomes, as did Theegala.
Homa, however, was the USA’s best player according to Data Golf’s strokes gained metric. The six-time PGA Tour winner was under pressure heading into the event but impressed on Friday, which makes his omission a little confusing.
The opening match will see Collin Morikawa and Scheffler face Taylor Pendrith and Adam Scott. Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele will go up against Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes in match number two.
Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark reunite to face Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim in match number three. Finally, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns will battle Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im in the anchor match.
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