NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. -- Jim Furyk never thought he would get another shot at being a Ryder Cup captain, but earlier this year as the PGA of America mulled over its choice for the role, he found himself hoping his name would be called.
After serving as United States captain at the 2018 Ryder Cup and vice captain for Keegan Bradley at Bethpage last year -- both of those resulting in losses -- Furyk had started taking notes following the Americans' most recent loss about what could and should be done better to give the United States, not just a chance at the next Ryder Cup, but a long-term blueprint going forward.
"I didn't want to throw my name in the hat. I didn't want to push that narrative," Furyk said Wednesday at the PGA Championship. "I was hoping I'd be approached ... I felt my experience and knowledge could be of huge help."
A week before the Masters, the PGA of America reached out to Furyk. The two parties met at Augusta and shortly after, Furyk was named Ryder Cup captain for the second time. The choice, though optically safe, has given Furyk an unlikely but real shot at redemption and a hand in trying to fix what has gone wrong for the side that has lost three of the past four Ryder Cups. Furyk has plenty of thoughts on what exactly that is.
"I think there's a lot of stones to be unturned," Furyk said. "We need to create more continuity for our players and for our future captains. And we really need to start making the Ryder Cup more of a priority each and every year, year in and year out, and focus on growing and evolving into the future."
Furyk had no qualms calling out what he believes has gone awry. He cited improvements in logistics, travel and schedule as factors that need to be reviewed and potentially changed going into next year's Ryder Cup at Adare Manor while also pointing out that Bradley was not put in the best position to succeed heading into Bethpage.
"[Bradley] had less than 18 months to prepare. And that's a guy who never even served as vice captain. So he played a lot of catch-up," said Furyk, who won the 2024 Presidents Cup as captain. "Team USA is a professional sports organization. We go from the Presidents Cup to the Ryder Cup each and every year. So I just think we could be better at 'this is a 12-month process' each and every year. It's not something, the Ryder Cup is over, we decompress, we let it go for six months."
Under new CEO Terry Clark, whom Furyk described as a "breath of fresh air" for the organization, the PGA of America is also looking to shift the way it views and handles the Ryder Cup.
"We learned a great deal from Bethpage. There were areas that did not meet our expectations or our standards, and we're focused on improving them," Clark said in his news conference Wednesday. "We're also already working with captain Jim Furyk, who you just heard from, on building a more structured and repeatable approach moving forward, focused on preparation, continuity and sustained success."
Aside from organizational changes, Furyk also pointed out that there needs to be an extra amount of effort and focus placed on trying to reverse the Americans' abysmal record in foursomes. Europeans have dominated the format in recent years, going 13-2 in the past two cups.
"It's pretty glaring that we're not prepared for that format," Furyk said. "Right now, that's first and foremost on my mind. We cannot continue to dig the holes we are on Friday and Saturday."
At Bethpage, Bradley's pairings in the format were heavily scrutinized after the U.S. lost both sessions 3-1. And while it has been unclear whether a captain's decision on pairings for that format has been a product of their analytics team or not, Furyk said Wednesday he believes the issue often goes back to communication.
"I think where we failed or where we've struggled with analytics is probably relaying to our players how they're used," Furyk said. "It's a priority for us to improve. But we need to start a lot earlier, as far as getting players involved and buying in, and, you know, we should be working on our pairings next spring, getting an idea of who could possibly make the team and get them involved."
After recently naming Stewart Cink and Justin Leonard as two of his vice captains, Furyk said Wednesday that he is not ruling out the potential of bringing in other voices from outside the sport to help with building team chemistry and organization. He also said that he doesn't anticipate the controversial paying of American players for participating in the Ryder Cup to change but noted that he wants to take a more active role in players sharing where that money is going.
Furyk added that he's planning to make a trip to Adare Manor in 10 days to scout the golf course and begin planning in earnest. And as it relates to the reality that he will now be the captain at two away Ryder Cups, famous for being nearly impossible to win in the history of this event, Furyk pointed out that he has always relished the idea of having to be the one the crowds are cheering against. That, he said, will play a huge role in determining who his captain's picks are.
"I'm going to pick the toughest, the grittiest, the ones that I know will thrive in an away match; that love a partisan crowd," Furyk said. "I love that. It's fun being at home. It's fun having the USA chants. But man, there's something about it. I got a chill down my spine every time I got to fly to Europe and play for a crowd that was rooting against me."
