It seems fair to say that if Jim Furyk was hoping to create a buzz and some real excitement with his picks for the Presidents Cup, the USA captain failed spectacularly.
Of course, there is real pressure on the US to deliver in the Presidents Cup. The Internationals have only won once in the competition’s 30 year history, and the US have made a bold move by naming Keegan Bradley as skipper for next year’s Ryder Cup, so they will want to make a statement with Bethpage 12 months away.
Jim Furyk is from the era which was overlooked in favour of Bradley’s appointment – though Furyk himself, obviously captained a Ryder Cup team in 2018. So it was always going to be interesting to see whether he would buy into this fresh new approach and spring some surprises with his captain’s picks for Royal Montreal.
However, Furyk ultimately decided to simply select the next six names in the qualification standings. There was no Akshay Bhatia, while there was a woefully out of form Max Homa. Meanwhile, the likes of Nick Dunlap and Davis Thompson were overlooked in favour of Bradley and Brian Harman.
Jim Furyk appears to have made a big error ahead of the Presidents Cup
The US should still have enough to win given the names at the top of the standings. And ultimately, no player can have any genuine complaints if they do not manage to qualify automatically.
But it would have arguably changed the tone if Furyk had thrown some real curveballs into his selection decision – picking youngsters with very bright futures, as well as those in better form.
And when you look at recent form, few outside the top six seemed to be doing more to make the team than Billy Horschel.
Obviously, the 37-year-old Horschel is not a youngster with a number of team event appearances likely to be ahead of him. But his performances over the last couple of months cannot be overlooked.
Billy Horschel is making a real statement with Wentworth display
Since missing the cut at the Scottish Open, Horschel has not finished outside the top 25 – with the high point coming when he finished tied for second as Xander Schauffele won The Open Championship at Royal Troon. And Horschel is well-placed to potentially win his second BMW PGA Championship this weekend, with the American alongside Rory McIlroy, three shots off the lead at Wentworth.
Not only has Horschel been superb in Surrey, but he has also shown why he would be particularly helpful at Royal Montreal. Like Montreal, Wentworth is a tight, tree-lined golf course – and Horschel managed to make seven straight birdies at one stage on Saturday. During that run, he ended up making 130 feet of putts – something which could have been a real difference-maker in matchplay.
The decision to not pick Horschel is unlikely to really cost Furyk if the US team does play at somewhere near its best next week. But there is absolutely no question at all that Horschel is doing all he can to show that Furyk made a major error not picking him for his second Presidents Cup appearance.
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