Rex Hoggard says Jim Furyk has piled the pressure on US pair at the Presidents Cup with ‘curious’ decision

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Those of us who expected Jim Furyk to play it safe with his pairings for the opening day of the Presidents Cup were very much mistaken.

It is fair to say that Jim Furyk did not exactly capture the imagination with his captain’s picks for the Presidents Cup, with the next six names in the qualification standings competing the team for Royal Montreal.

So it seemed safe to assume that Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay would play together, while Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns are likely to head out at some stage. But what was quite remarkable was that Furyk put neither team together for the opening session on Thursday.

In fact, none of Furyk’s five pairings for the opening session have played together in either a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. Nevertheless, it is something else which appears to have caught the attention of Rex Hoggard.

Jim Furyk questioned after announcing his opening day pairings for the Presidents Cup

With five matches set to go out on Thursday and then again on Friday, just two players on each side will sit out each of the first two sessions of the week. And from the American side, it is Max Homa and Brian Harman who will play no part on Thursday.

Homa has been in no form at all in recent months, so the fourball appeared to be the format which he simply had to be used in. And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Hoggard suggested that he is not convinced by Furyk’s thinking on resting Homa.

“The most interesting part from those pairings today going into tomorrow was the idea of sitting Max Homa and Brian Harman. As you pointed out, Max Homa was clearly a controversial pick as a captain’s pick for all the reasons you pointed out. He’s not doing the one thing you really need to do well on this golf course, drive the ball well. He’s not putting well, he’s not hitting his irons well,” he said.

“Watching him the last three days, it doesn’t look like he’s entirely comfortable in the situation. Him and Brian Harman are going to end up paired together, they were a lone bright spot for the United States last year in Rome. For them to be left out of the first day fourball session, which is by far the easier of the sessions – if you’re going to ease someone in to a match who isn’t playing well, it’s much easier to do it in fourball than it is in alternate shot.

“So you’re assuming that Harman and Homa are going to go out Friday in the alternate shot session. You’re putting them in a position where suddenly there’s so much pressure to find a fairway, suddenly there’s so much pressure for him to make a putt – all the things that he hasn’t done this year to me is curious.”

A player who could silence all of his doubters

In fairness to Furyk, Homa is one of those players that finds another gear in these team events. He won four points out of four at Quail Hollow two years ago, and he was the shining light for the American team at the Ryder Cup. Rory McIlroy was the only player on either side to win more points than him.

But he has been really struggling with his game for some time now, so to leave him out of the opening session feels like a risk. Perhaps he is hoping that the US can build up a strong lead before sending him out there in the hope of taking the pressure off.

But it would have surprised a lot of people to have seen Homa not sent out on Thursday, and it leaves Furyk with something of a dilemma for the rest of the week.