Furyk gets a second chance at piloting the US Ryder Cup team after Woods took himself out of contention. The job would have gone to the former world number one if he had felt able to take it.
This appointment is a return to America’s old guard after the experiment of going with a more contemporary player in Bradley resulted in home defeat last year.
Furyk is extraordinarily experienced, but this hardly feels like an inspiring appointment despite his undisputed passion for the US cause.
Once again, though, there seems to have been little cohesive strategy from the PGA of America. Furyk was well beaten by Thomas Bjorn in Paris in 2018 and enjoyed little success as a player, competing on seven losing teams.
He is a hugely respected figure, who skippered the US to victory over the Internationals at the last Presidents Cup in 2024. But Ryder Cups are much more pressured environments.
In appointing Furyk, the US have overlooked figures such as Stewart Cink, Webb Simpson, Justin Leonard and the current Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker.
Furyk made his Ryder Cup debut in 1997. He has been a fixture as a player, vice-captain and now twice as a skipper in every match for three decades. Tellingly, he has never been involved in an away win.
To land a first overseas American win since 1993, he needs to overcome an opposite number in Donald who is regarded as one of the finest captains in European history.
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