One of the key challenges Jim Furyk is facing ahead of the Presidents Cup is deciding who will partner with Scottie Scheffler at Royal Montreal as USA look to continue their dominance of the event.
On the surface, it should be a simple task. Scottie Scheffler has been, by far, the best player on the planet over the last 12 months. It should be relatively comfortable for the visitors when Scheffler tees it up this week at the Presidents Cup. However, that has not been the case in the last couple of team events.
In fact, Scheffler lost three matches and only took half a point from Quail Hollow two years ago. He was frequently paired with Sam Burns – and Burns was actually the one in the duo who was playing well. Meanwhile, the 28-year-old’s display at the Ryder Cup was not significantly better.
US fans had to deal for years with Tiger Woods not finding his best form in the Ryder Cup, so perhaps it should not be entirely surprising that Scheffler has not yet been dominant.
USA star eyeing opportunity to be paired with Scottie Scheffler
Certainly, it seemed to be Woods being paired with Steve Stricker which brought more consistency out of him, so the pairing is clearly hugely important. Smylie Kaufman backed Russell Henley to be an ideal partner for Scheffler.
But speaking in a PGA Tour preview of the event, Wyndham Clark has suggested that he thinks that he would be a good partner for the two-time major champion.
“I’d love to play with Scottie. He is Iron Byron, and I can kind of have the speed and the firepower and can make a lot of putts. We both have great short games, so I think we complement each other well,” he said.
“We got a little taste of that at the Olympics, played practice rounds, it was Scottie and I versus Xander and Collin, and Scottie and I came out victorious. I think we could do that against other people for sure.”
Wyndham Clark is in a similar situation heading to Royal Montreal
Clark is a player who is also searching for a regular partner after making his team debut at last year’s Ryder Cup. The 2023 US Open champion was paired with Max Homa on Friday afternoon in Rome, earning half a point against Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre.
Meanwhile, it is easily forgotten that Clark was the man alongside Patrick Cantlay during that remarkable match involving Rory McIlroy, where what Cantlay was – or was not – wearing on his head dominated discussion.
There are some more established pairings available to Furyk. Homa and Brian Harman were outstanding on Saturday in Rome, while it would be a shock if Xander Schauffele and Cantlay were not together at some stage.
But it does appear to be important that Furyk finds the right partner for Scheffler before it becomes a significant talking point ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup. It will be interesting to see if the captain does take Clark up on his claim.
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