Jim Furyk breaks his silence on Ryder Cup criticism

Jim Furyk has spoken for the first time since presiding over the USA’s heaviest Ryder Cup defeat in over a decade.

The 2003 US Open champion sat down with Tim Roseforte for a exclusive interview with the Golf Channel, during which he admitted that he was fully prepared for the criticism he has endured over the past week.

Furyk’s decision-making in the 17½-10½ loss at Le Golf National has been called into question regularly over the last week, not least by one of his star men, Patrick Reed.

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The Masters champion’s wildly successful partnership with Jordan Spieth was split up by Furyk in France, reportedly at Spieth’s request, with Reed also sitting out two of the five sessions – a decision Reed described as ‘not smart’.

Speaking to the Golf Channel, Furyk revealed that the criticism hasn’t surprised him.

“I think as a coach, as a captain, you’re leading a team,” he said. “Ultimately together,we didn’t get that job done and that falls on me as captain.

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“I fully expect to be second-guessed. I fully expect they’re going to look at the decisions I made and that I’m going to receive some criticism. When you accept this job as captain, that’s part of the deal.”

Furyk also played down reports of a fight at the European after-party on Sunday night between Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson.

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“Whatever altercation started, or what happened, it was very brief. It was very short. Neither one of them really took anything out of it,” Furyk said. “They’re like brothers. Brothers may argue, brothers get
into it. But they’re as close as they’ve ever been, and it really had no effect on either one of them.”

Ahead of last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Koepka strenuously denied that any altercation had taken place.