The Americans may be overwhelming favourites to win the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal later this month, but it would appear that Jim Furyk is leaving absolutely nothing to chance.
All of the pressure is on Jim Furyk, with the International team winning just once in Presidents Cup history. Furyk meanwhile, has a bit of a point to prove after losing the 2018 Ryder Cup as captain.
One of the most significant aspects of the 54-year-old’s job involved naming his captain’s picks. And of course, one of the most notable decisions he made was to hand Keegan Bradley one of those picks following the 38-year-old’s win at the BMW Championship.
Few would have ever imagined how Bradley’s year would play out. The 2011 PGA champion would return to the top 20 in the world rankings earlier in the season. But then, he was named as the next Ryder Cup captain.
Jim Furyk has made potential mistake ahead of the Presidents Cup
Furyk responded to the news by announcing Bradley as an assistant captain for the Presidents Cup. However, his playing form threw a spanner in the works, with Bradley named in the team itself. With that, Furyk decided to remove him from the vice-captaincy position to allow him to focus on playing.
Bradley has spoken of his desire to be a playing-captain at the Ryder Cup. With that, Rex Hoggard has told Golf Channel that he cannot understand the thinking behind the decision from Furyk, with the appointment initially made to give Bradley some experience of the backroom role.
“Tiger Woods was the playing captain back in 2019, the United States won easily, he played well, it didn’t seem to be a problem for him, so I’m not quite sure why it would be a problem for Keegan Bradley if he has a walkie-talkie and a golf cart and some playing duties,” he said.
“I see where Jim Furyk is coming from, he wants the players to focus on playing, and he and the rest of the vice-captains can worry about all of the other things. But I think you’re right, there’s something to learn by being on that side of the equation where you had Keegan, he’s part of these meetings, he starts to understand how fast things come at you.
“I had a conversation with Jim Furyk about this at East Lake during The Tour Championship, the idea that it takes months in the build-up to when you finally get to the point where you make the captain’s picks. And once you actually get to the venue things happen really fast, and that’s usually when you start making mistakes and making decisions that aren’t quite sound. For Keegan Bradley to get a taste of that, yeah, I think it would be very good for him.”
A real missed opportunity for Keegan Bradley
Firstly, it should be noted that this is not the first time Furyk has taken this kind of decision. Tiger Woods was set to be a vice-captain for the 2018 Ryder Cup before he was removed from the role after Furyk picked him to be on the team itself.
But it is different in an away Ryder Cup, as visitors now know that they have to be nearly flawless to stand any chance of winning. An away Presidents Cup has not tended to be as difficult to win down the years.
Not only would Bradley have gained some important experience, but it would have also given him an idea of whether being a playing-captain at Bethpage next year is at all realistic. Had it all been too much for him in Canada, he would have surely realised that there is little chance of juggling the jobs in New York.
Furyk will argue that his sole focus is simply on winning the Presidents Cup, but the decision perhaps goes against the idea that the Americans are trying to develop a long-term winning culture.
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