Jim Furyk is fired up for the Presidents Cup and offended if you don't want the U.S. to win: 'Go eff yourself'
When Wyndham Clark mentioned that the U.S. players and assistant captains were gathering for a barbecue hosted by Captain Jim Furyk on the eve of the Procore Championship in Napa, California, I texted Furyk to find out what he was making.
“Chicken and steaks,” he replied. “News travels. You are the second media person to ask.”
Twenty minutes later, we were chatting on a bench at the putting green at Silverado Resort on a beautiful, warm sunny day, talking about final preparations for the Presidents Cup in Montreal, his captain’s picks and a bit of a walk down memory lane. Much of the transcript of that conversation is covered below but we’re going to skip ahead in the action to the most riveting part, where I mentioned to Furyk that for the sake of the future of the biennial competition, which the U.S. has dominated at a clip of 14-1-1 or admittedly as close as Alabama warming up for its SEC slate of games in September, we needed the equivalent of Eastern Michigan to take down mighty Notre Dame.
To no surprise, Furyk, a past U.S. Open champ who should be enshrined in the next class of the World Golf Hall of Fame, is a fierce competitor and he didn’t like might take one bit.
“Really? You’re American,” Furyk said. “I do actually take offense at that. I don’t hate you but it’s a pretty shi--y thing to say.”
I realized I had stepped out of line so I started backtracking and explaining that as a journalist, I don’t root for either team but the saying is we root for the story. I’ve covered every Presidents Cup since 2011 and I’m still waiting to see the International Team win. I’ve seen a couple close calls in Korea in 2015 and Australia in 2019 but also a shellacking at Liberty National, where the U.S. nearly clinched on Saturday and made the singles a moot point. “Nothing personal,” I said, “but the competition really needs an International Team victory to energize the matches.”
Furyk shared a story from the 2017 Presidents Cup when a high-ranking official at the PGA Tour (he didn’t disclose the individual) said, “Good luck, this week.”
But to Furyk it seemed disingenuous. “Just the way he said it, it was so back-handed. I said, ‘You know, I’m not exactly sure I know what that’s suppose to mean,’ ” Furyk recounted.
The suit from the Tour gave a similar reasoning that an International Team victory that week “would really help the event.”
It ticked off Furyk now and it ticked him off then.
"Did you ever play anything in your entire life as a competitor? Because I’d rather you not even say good luck than say it and not even mean it. Do you know how hard, how many hours, the captains work to try to win these matches? Do you know how hard and how much effort the players, how hard they take it when they don’t play well? I’ve seen grown men cry in the locker room because they’re upset and I’ve seen how much it means to them when they do play well. I know what you’re saying, but do you know how offended I am? He said, 'Well, I’m sorry.' I said, 'No, you should know better.' "
Furyk's point of that story was that so should I. And then he dropped the hammer on me, probably the most-un-Jim-Furyk-like thing he's ever uttered to the press. "So it’s not like I’m killing you right now, but F--k you. Go f--k yourself. You can quote me on that one,” he said.
That’s also the most fiery I’ve seen Furyk and that could be the passion the American squad needs from its captain North of the Border. I share this story to let you know that Captain Furyk is fired up and he’s not taking anything for granted. He’s not leading some goodwill tour to grow the game; he’s all business and he’s ready to lead the U.S. team to victory in Montreal.
GWK: Were you always planning on coming to Napa to check on your team members playing here and see your assistants?
JF: Yeah, I think it was going to depend on how many folks we had. I assume we probably have two to four and with three players and then having the assistant captains, three of them out here was icing on the cake as well. I get a chance to spend some time with Stewie and Kiz and now Sneds together. Plus, it's not bad. It doesn't suck.
GWK: Of the captain's picks, which player had the most visceral response? Did anybody cry or say hell, yeah?
JF: They were all excited. Keegan was definitely jacked up, yeah, but he's, I think a lot of it's in the personality. Like the one time I got that call, I was excited, but it's not in my nature to like portray that as much, you know what I mean. So I think you look at someone like Keegan, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, good or bad, versus someone like Russell Henley, who's a little bit more laid back and relaxed, but they all were very cool calls to make.
GWK: Was there a chance you would have taken Jordan Spieth, who went 5-0 in 2022, if he hadn't had surgery on his wrist?
JF: It's funny, I was already talking to him. He reached out to me weeks before all that had come out that his wrist was bothering him, and we talked about what it was, and it was funny, because I said it sounds a lot like what Luke Donald went through. He said, ‘Who did your surgery?’ I told him my guy retired but he’s become a very good friend, and if you'd like to reach out just to get an opinion, he'll know every surgeon that you're working with. He was like the head of the hand and wrist society, but he'll just give you a dog in the fight. We were already talking about it beforehand.
GWK: Any more sense whether Fluff’s going to be able to be your cart driver?
JF: He thinks he's coming up. I think he's gotten a go-ahead from his doctor as far as travel. I don't know how strong and mobile he is right now. He said he's starting to get around. I might end up being his cart driver.
GWK: Did you realize that your picks were Nos. 7-12 in the point standings?
JF: Yeah. Trust me, I knew the points so well. I knew everyone's stats, and I knew world ranking, and I knew, like, yeah, it really didn't work, and it's not the reason I did what I did, but I know it's funny looking at it. They were also, and it didn't matter again, but they were also the top 12 in overall rankings as well, not in the same specific order, but it was the same 12 guys in points or ranking. One of the things we have in the U.S., we just have so much depth and so many good players, it's going to be controversial. Not everyone's going to agree with the direction the captain goes. And that's part of being captain.
GWK: I know you weren't allowed to, but had you been able to would you have chosen any of the LIV guys to be part of your team?
JF: It would have been hard not to take Bryson (DeChambeau) as well as he's played. I think that in his last team event he kind of hit a nice groove and we found a partnership that worked for him when he was part of the Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits.
GWK: What do you like more about the President's Cup versus the Ryder Cup?
JF: I like the extra matches. Guys work hard to make these teams, and they want to play. I like the back-and-forth picks by the captains. When I was a player, I would always follow along and if we had first pick, I’d be saying, “All right, Captain, put me out. Ooh, this guy thinks he can beat me.” Every player in that field, no matter what side you're on, has a chip on the shoulder.
GWK: What are your fondest memories from playing in the Presidents Cup?
JF: Playing for Jack Nicklaus was really cool. I played Weirsy in South Africa when we had that epic tie (2003) and we were the first match out. It was one of the only times that a Captain ever put me out real early like that. I was usually a match No. 7-8-9-10 guy. Finished my match up and shook Mike’s hand. Jack was there on the green, and he said, ‘Hop in the cart with me,’ and I spent the next two, two and a half hours in the cart listening to him break down matches. I remember how exciting everything was, and running around and then in the playoff we all went around following the action.
GWK: Didn’t you go 5-0 one time?
JF: In 2011. I went from Player of the Year to a year that I didn’t play too well to the point where I finished 10th in points, and so I just kind of squeaked my way onto the team. I made a ball switch. I was messing around with another ball during alternate shot. Believe it or not, it was Phil’s. He was playing a Callaway ball that spun a lot, which is uncharacteristic for him. It was a lower launch, higher spin ball. It helped me get on top of the ball again. I played three of the matches with Phil and I played four-ball with Nick Watney and I was worn out by that one. I didn't play very well in that match but he did and we won that match. Then I beat Ernie in singles.
GWK: If the over/under was 3.5 Canadians (on the International Team), which would you have picked?
JF: I always felt like it would be three for sure, possibly four. Five would put a lot of pressure on Weirsy. I guess it all depends on whether you asked me in January versus June versus September, but kind of most of it I was thinking, three or four. It was looking like four for quite a while.
Wherever those three (Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Taylor Pendrith) go, you’ll definitely know it. I’ll be curious whether he partners them together, or if they split them up. All I know is we need to worry about us, our process, what we're trying to do and take care of our business.
GWK: Do you expect this to be your last hurrah in the team competitions?
JF: There’s a good chance of that. I’m kind of aging out of it. You never know, someone might want to bring back an old guy just for some experience. I think it's good to have some experience on your side. Stewart (Cink) did a lot last year and I worked really well with him at the Ryder Cup. If it were me, I’d bring some recent Ryder Cup captain back because there’s too many years of cumulative knowledge among our group not to tap into that.
GWK: Are you planning to have a former coach or inspirational speaker address the team at all?
JF: Not planning on it but things come up. I think we’re motivated, we have a good core of leaders, some new guys who’ve stepped up and they’ve already done a few things that I’ve really enjoyed. You can make guys nervous. Some of that stuff can be really good and can be awesome but it also can make guys nervous and make things bigger than it really is. I just want guys to be them. You don’t have to do anything special, don’t have to be perfect, you just have to go play golf.
GWK: How is your ping pong game?
JF: Not very good. Ping pong makes me nervous. Guys are too competitive. They’re diving around. I’m telling you, someone is going to get hurt one of these days.
GWK: Does that mean no table in the team room?
We’ll see. Maybe, maybe not. But I’ve seen guys in a full-blown sweat playing ping pong and diving – it makes no sense. I almost twisted my ankle one year at the Belfry. I stopped playing after that. But if you put so many guys together who are hyper-competitive and don’t want to lose you’re going to get some crazy stuff happen.
GWK: Don’t hate me for this but I kind of hope your team loses.
JF: Really? You’re American. You’ve got to understand, I do actually take offense at that. I don’t hate you but it’s a pretty shi--y thing to say.
GWK: It’s nothing personal, but the competition really needs an International Team victory to energize the matches.
JF: I’ll leave you with this. I was in New York helping out Steve Stricker at Liberty National and a very high-ranking official at the PGA Tour said, “Good luck, this week.” Just the way he said it, it was so back-handed. I said, “You know, I’m not exactly sure I know what that’s suppose to mean.” He said, "Well, you know, it would really help the event." I said, "Really? Did you ever play anything in your entire life as a competitor? Because I’d rather you not even say good luck than say it and not even mean it. Do you know how hard, how many hours, the captains work to try to win these matches? Do you know how hard and how much effort the players, how hard they take it when they don’t play well? I’ve seen grown men cry in the locker room because they’re upset and I’ve seen how much it means to them when they do play well. I know what you’re saying, but do you know how offended I am?" He said, “Well, I’m sorry.” I said, “No, you should know better.” So it’s not like I’m killing you right now, but f--k you. Go f--k yourself. You can quote me on that one.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jim Furyk is fired up for the Presidents Cup and offended if you don't want the U.S. to win: 'Go eff yourself'
