Category: 2023 Ryder Cup

Why Jim Furyk’s 1999 Ryder Cup shirt was the star of the U.S. Ryder Cup scouting trip

The star of the U.S. Ryder Cup scouting trip? It was a blast from the past.

NAPA, Calif. — The star of the U.S. Ryder Cup scouting trip? It was a blast from the past.

Jim Furyk dug deep into his closet and resurrected the infamous 1999 Sunday singles shirt that the American side wore at The Country Club in its dramatic come-from-behind victory that became known at the Battle at Brookline.

“It’s quite vintage. I think it’s coming back now and style,” Johnson said on Tuesday during an interview with SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio. “And Jim can pull it off. He is kind of a fashion forward guy as it is, so, it’s awesome.”

Furyk, who was U.S. team captain in 2018, the last time the American side lost on foreign soil, is serving as a vice captain for Johnson later this month in Rome at Marco Simone. The burgundy shirts, created under the direction of U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw, were dotted with portraits of victorious U.S. teams from the past six decades. It’s a shirt that has to be included in any list of the ugliest uniforms in sports. Asked in 2004 by ESPN what he did with his shirt, Tiger Woods said, “I threw it in the fireplace over Christmas and burned it. It was sooo ugly. It provided more warmth for the house.”

Furyk saved his and once told Sky Sports that it’s “his party shirt.” Packing for the trip to Rome, he happened to come across it, tossed it into his suitcase and wore it to be funny.

“He texted me he’s like, ‘What do you think?’ I’m like, ‘Buddy, if there’s ever a place and time to wear that thing, it’s now; it’s so good.’… As an American golfer, as the guy that watched every second of that championship, you remember those shirts. You remember that team, and what happened so, it’s so much fun. I love seeing it.”

“I have worn it three times since 1999,” Furyk told Golfweek in a text. “Once at Halloween, one at New Year’s Eve to be funny and last weekend.”

Stewart Cink, another of Johnson’s vice captains, said Furyk was taken by surprise the night he wore the shirt to dinner when the team left the restaurant and walked about three city blocks back to the team hotel.

“It felt like Times Square, shoulder to shoulder with people in the middle of the city, wearing that shirt and having a lot of people say, ‘Hey, look at that Ryder Cup shirt.’ It was hilarious,” Cink said. “And I don’t know if he expected that.”

“That was the best part,” Johnson said.

Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson (jokingly) sets high bar for Max Homa, Justin Thomas at Fortinet Championship

“I think it’s inevitable that whatever Max and J.T. do this week will be overstated to the good or to the bad.”

NAPA, Calif. – Zach Johnson is wearing two hats this week – one of which is trying to prepare to play in the Fortinet Championship, which begins on Thursday, and the other is prepping as captain of Team USA for the Ryder Cup in Rome, which begins on Sept. 29 and included two impromptu Zoom calls when he woke up Tuesday.

He said he’s taking both jobs seriously, including laying down the gauntlet to his two Ryder Cup players in the field this week, Max Homa and Justin Thomas.

“Max and J.T., I don’t really want to speak on behalf of them, but if they don’t play well, they may not play. That’s the bottom line,” said Johnson speaking at a pre-tournament press conference, before adding, “Kidding.”

“There was a little hesitation there, did you see that?” said Stewart Cink, one of Johnson’s vice captains for the Ryder Cup and a past champion at the Fortinet Championship.

Johnson continued, and said he had some concerns whether he should play this week.

“At the same time, given the people I have around me, specifically someone like Stewart and our other peers, our leadership captains if you will, we’ve done a lot of good work to date,” Johnson said.

He had little doubt that it would be beneficial for Homa and Thomas, in particular, to get some reps under tournament conditions.

“I don’t think it’s ever bad to go compete. That’s what we’re designed to do, that’s where we’re wired,” he said. “Ideally they get some momentum. Momentum in this game is pretty lethal and can be a really good thing.”

He added: “I’m not going to give their scorecard a whole lot of merit when it comes to what we’re trying to do two weeks from now.”

“I think it’s inevitable that whatever Max and J.T. do this week will be overstated to the good or to the bad,” Cink said. “I hope they both win. I don’t think that’s possible, but I hope they both win. That would be great for their confidence alone.

“And we tie for third,” Johnson said.

Confidence is knowing your best golf is still to come.

“We hope that they have confidence coming out of this week and that would be a great thing,” Cink said.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1375]

Team USA heads to Rome for Ryder Cup scouting trip; Team Europe to do the same

“I think that trip right there is going to be crucial.”

The U.S. Ryder Cup team is headed to Italy early, but this is no site-seeing trip.

U.S. Captain Zach Johnson and his 12-man squad flew to Rome on Friday to get an early look at Marco Simone Golf Club, site of the Ryder Cup, which begins Sept. 29, and experiment with possible pairings that could play a role in retaining the Cup and winning on foreign soil for the first time in 30 years.

“I think that trip right there is going to be crucial. That’s a strong word, but I think just key for a number of reasons,” Johnson said during a press conference at the PGA Championship in May. “Certainly chemistry and camaraderie and all that good stuff inside the locker room. But more than that, we all know that – those that have played – we all know Monday through Thursday is pretty trying. There’s a lot that goes on. And if we have any weather issues or just things get really congested and difficult and tight, they’ve already experienced it, so they don’t have to push themselves immensely.”

The U.S. Ryder Cup team won’t make the same mistake twice. At the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, Europe held a distinct advantage as Le Golf National had been the site of the DP World Tour’s French Open for years. Then U.S. Captain Jim Furyk led a trip there ahead of the British Open in July for potential team members, but only Justin Thomas competed in the French Open that year and he ended up with the best record among the Americans, who were routed 17½ to 10½.

“They had us over a barrel in Paris because we didn’t have enough practice rounds at (Le Golf National),” Davis Love III, former two-time captain and a vice captain in 2018 and again this year, told Golfweek in 2021. “The other team knew the golf course way better.”

That could be the case again but to a lesser extent: the last three Italian Opens have been held at Marco Simone. Love noted that Tiger Woods helped shape Team USA’s approach to preparing for a course.

“He said, ‘Let’s talk to the head pro, the best caddie, the top players among the members,’” Love said. “We learned a lot of why he beat us all those years.”

It’s not unusual for a U.S. Ryder Cup captain to host a reconnaissance session, but it has become an official part of the U.S. formula. Love recalled Dave Stockton suggesting he play Kiawah in 1991 in case he picked him – he didn’t. In 1995, Lanny Wadkins organized a side trip to play Ryder Cup site Oak Hill during the week of the B.C. Open. Other Ryder Cup captains have held practice sessions for the overseas match around the British Open – Tom Kite hired a Gulfstream to take players to Valderrama in Spain to prepare, Tom Lehman did it for K Club and Furyk for Le Golf National.

In 2021, U.S. captain Steve Stricker took it next level and got nearly the whole team to go to Whistling Straits ahead of its home game in Wisconsin. European Ryder Cup Captain Padraig Harrington noted it gave the U.S. side an advantage, especially on the final day when the wind shifted to a direction that his team hadn’t practiced in that week but that the Americans experienced during its pre-Ryder Cup get together.

With two off weeks before the PGA Tour’s fall season gets underway and a month between the Tour Championship and Ryder Cup this year, Johnson had more wiggle room to organize the team trip.

“Then when we leave and come back home for two weeks, they’ll have at least, I think, a pretty realistic expectation as to what is required,” Johnson said of their reconnaissance trip to Rome.

Team Euro also planning a trip

Team Europe has a team scouting trip of its own scheduled at Marco Simone, and will be arriving right behind the American squad. It is scheduled to arrive in Rome on Sept. 10 and play practice rounds on Sept. 11 before traveling to London for next week’s BMW PGA Championship.

“It’s the first time we’ve ever done it as a team,” European Captain Luke Donald said. “It was something that I certainly wanted. I was very adamant that whoever was on that team was going to be there. I didn’t want anyone to kind of skip out on it unless they had specific reasons for that. I think it’s a great opportunity for us to come together. It’s different to two years ago. We obviously only had one week between qualifying and now, and part of the reason to have qualifying early was to have that opportunity to go see Rome. There’s a couple players who had not played the course; that’s important. But any time you can get the guys together and start thinking about pairings, you can start creating that unity in the team room, I think is really, really important.”

“It’ll be just a lovely experience,” said team member Rory McIlroy following the final round of the Tour Championship. “We’re going to spend a few nights in Rome just to get the team together.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451201133]

Shock, sadness and anger: Adrian Meronk addresses being left off European Ryder Cup team

“To be honest when he said I’m not going, I kind of stopped listening,” Meronk said of his call with Luke Donald.

As the event’s defending champion Adrian Meronk didn’t need any added motivation to play well this week at the 2023 Horizon Irish Open, but a phone call Sunday threw gasoline on his already lit fire.

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald made his six captain’s picks on Monday, and after finishing fifth on the European points list and 11th on the world list, Meronk was told to expect a call regardless of the outcome. Following his T-13 at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on Sunday, the 30-year-old was in a good mood.

“To be honest, I was in shock,” Meronk said of the news that he wasn’t selected for the 12-player squad bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club near Rome later this month. “I was expecting I have a pretty decent chance to be on the team, but it was a quite shocking call.”

“I heard from (Donald) that it was tough for him, as well. To be honest when I — when he said I’m not going, I kind of stopped listening,” he said of the call. “He was saying that someone had to stay home. It was close obviously and stuff like that. Obviously I wouldn’t want to be in his position. I knew it was tough for him. But yeah, as I said, it was a big shock, and I didn’t really focus after that.”

In 11 starts on the PGA Tour this season Meronk missed six cuts and had just three top-25 finishes. On the DP World Tour he earned a win at the Australian Open in December and the Italian Open in May to highlight 11 top-25 finishes in 18 starts.

“It’s been emotional time for me to be honest from shock to sadness to anger, and now I’m trying to turn it into motivation going into this week,” said Meronk ahead of his title defense at the K Club on Ireland’s Kildare countryside. “Obviously it’s a hard one to swallow. I thought I’ve done enough to be on the team, but it is what it is. I wish them good luck and I will just focus on my game and move forward.”

“Monday, first half of the day was more sadness and disbelief. But then anger, because to be honest last year and a half, I spent a lot of time thinking about this and that was my goal,” he added. “So you know, suddenly, I was just realizing that it’s not going to happen this year. So it was just sadness turning into anger. I think it’s normal process of emotions to be honest.”

Those who believe Meronk was snubbed for the team will point to captain’s picks like rookies Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard, one of which has been highlight praised after his win in Switzerland at the European Masters.

“I think Ludvig is probably going to play in the next six or seven Ryder Cups, so this is a good one to start with in Rome with a very strong team. I think he’ll fit into the team nicely,” said Shane Lowry, who will make his second start for the Euros in Italy. “He drives the ball incredibly well, which is what you need around that golf course, and I think he’s a great fit for the team.”

“Oh, I think Ludvig was a simple pick at the end. Like I don’t think it was in any question at the very end,” added former European captain Padraig Harrington. “I think two weeks prior, it would have been a big pick. It would have been a pick based on stats rather than necessary results, but his results have been fantastic the last two weeks, and that’s actually why you have a closing date. You’re trying to get current form into your team, and Ludvig has proved it.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=451201133]

‘I think we’re back’: Padraig Harrington has high praise for Luke Donald and his European Ryder Cup team

“I believe we’re back to the ’80s, the ’70s where our top players are actually the best players in the world.”

Padraig Harrington watched European Ryder Cup skipper Luke Donald make his six captain’s picks for the 2023 matches later this month and wasn’t surprised by the selections.

He was only surprised that Donald called him the day prior.

“I did get a very polite phone call from Luke telling me I wasn’t getting picked. I think that was polite rather than necessary,” Harrington quipped ahead of this week’s 2023 Horizon Irish Open on the DP World Tour.

“I think Europe is very strong this year. I think we’re back,” he continued. “I believe we’re back to the ’80s, the ’70s where our top players are actually the best players in the world.”

The Europeans currently have three of the top-five players in the world on their 12-man roster bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, but as a former captain himself, Harrington knows the importance of depth and the dangers of being a top-heavy side.

“We need a strong pool of players so that some of the very top players can be rested for the singles. I think that’s the most important thing is that all the players play well,” said Harrington, whose European side was historically beaten 19-9 by the Americans two years ago at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. “We have the best players at the top for sure, but we need all of them to play well so the best players can sit out at least one match.”

43rd Ryder Cup
Vice-captain Luke Donald and captain Padraig Harrington walk across the fifth hole during practice rounds prior to the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits on September 23, 2021, in Kohler, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

To his core Harrington believes he had a good team with a great attitude in 2021, result aside. If you ask him what happened, he’ll say the COVID-19 year was the difference maker.

“I think we just caught it on our turndown, their upturn. That one extra year of COVID, our team went from peaking to slightly off and never could come back,” he explained. “The U.S. team were peaking. That extra year got them into a great place. Many of the players were probably at their very peak in the U.S. at that stage. If you start looking at the names now with two years of hindsight, they were at the top of their game and the Europeans are only coming into that now.”

Here’s how each roster stacks up with two different ranking systems: the points-based Official World Golf Ranking and the head-to-head Golfweek/Sagarin ranking (more on that here).

U.S. roster and rankings

Player OWGR GW/Sagarin
Scottie Scheffler 1 1
Patrick Cantlay 5 6
Xander Schauffele 6 2
Max Homa 7 10
Brian Harman 9 38
Wyndham Clark 10 9
Jordan Spieth 12 47
Brooks Koepka 15 N/A
Collin Morikawa 19 15
Sam Burns 20 30
Justin Thomas 25 60
Rickie Fowler 26 7

European roster and rankings

Player OWGR GW/Sagarin
Rory McIlroy 2 3
Jon Rahm 3 4
Viktor Hovland 4 5
Matt Fitzpatrick 9 32
Tyrrell Hatton 13 8
Tommy Fleetwood 14 13
Sepp Straka 23 110
Justin Rose 34 37
Shane Lowry 37 56
Robert MacIntyre 54 73
Nicolai Hojgaard 78 62
Ludvig Aberg 90 12

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451201133]

Why is Team Europe captain Luke Donald reading up a storm? In search of a Ryder Cup edge

Donald has been on a tear through the book store that would make “The Art of War” author Sun Tzu blush.

Luke Donald believes in preparation.

He didn’t become world No. 1 by accident, and he’s brought the same tenacity and work ethic to ensuring that he’s not the first European captain to lose on home soil in 30 years when the Ryder Cup is held from Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone GC in Rome, Italy.

Donald has been planning, scripting for various scenarios so he can take each session as it comes but as he put it, “We’ll have a good plan in place.”

His goal is simple for his team: “I think they’ll be in a good frame of mind, feeling like they can win.”

But to get there, Donald is leaving no stone unturned. For Team Europe, it really began with the Hero World Cup, which pitted a team representing Great Britain and Ireland against a team representing Continental Europe in January. Donald, for instance, got exposed to eventual captain’s pick Sepp Straka, learned from past winning captains such as Thomas Bjorn, Paul McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal, as well as vice captain Edoardo Molinari, who doubles as stats guru, and was able to experiment with how his statistical models impacted pairings and the like.

Donald also has become a voracious reader. He said he typically reads a book about every six months but has been on a tear through a section that would make Sun Tzu, author of “The Art of War,” blush.

Here’s a handful of the books Donald tells Golfweek he’s been thumbing through in the lead-up to the Ryder Cup: “The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful People,” “Belonging: The Ancient Code of Togetherness,” “The Art of Winning,” and “Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About the Business of Life.”

“I felt like I needed to just pick up ideas, pick up one little thing that might make a difference,” he said.

He’s also talked to coaches in different sports, including past European Ryder Cup captains. That may sound obvious but it hasn’t always been a given. Donald phoned Tony Jacklin, the inspirational leader who was at the helm when Team Europe ended its losing skid in 1985 and won for the first time on U.S. soil.

“He called me and asked me a couple of things and I was happy to convey what I thought,” Jacklin said. “I think he’s going into this thing with his eyes wide open and he’ll do well.”

Justin Thomas ‘getting back to the grind’ ahead of 2023 Ryder Cup (with a little fun on the side)

JT has spent the last two weeks in Tennessee preparing for his next PGA Tour start and the upcoming Ryder Cup.

Golf fans missed seeing Justin Thomas in the FedEx Cup Playoffs after the former world No. 1 failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s season-ending stretch last month.

So what’s he been up to since? The 30-year-old has spent the last two weeks at the Troubadour Golf and Field Club near Nashville in College Grove, Tennessee, working on his game and having a little fun on the side.

Thomas shared a post on Instagram that featured a slow motion swing video (that looks dangerously close to a Roy McAvoy training aid from Tin Cup), as well as pictures of a fish he caught, a night with country music star Eric Church and a suite at his alma mater Alabama’s first football game of the season.

Ryder Cup: Meet Team USA | Uniforms

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cw0IzLTrgAs/?img_index=1

Despite his struggles this season, United States Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson selected Thomas with one of his six captain’s picks to complete his 12-player team bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, for the 2023 Ryder Cup. Johnson cited JT’s past experiences and passion for the event as his reason for picking him: “In my mind, he was born for this and you just don’t leave JT at home.”

Thomas will make his third appearance for the red, white and blue later this month near Rome and will look to improve on an already stellar 6-2-1 record.

Before the Ryder Cup, Thomas will tee it up for the first time in his PGA Tour career at the 2023 Fortinet Championship at Silverado Country Club in Napa, California, where he’ll be joined in the field by two-time defending champion Max Homa.

Who knows, if things go well in Napa, maybe we’ll see the pool noodles on the range in Rome, too.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451201133]

Who got snubbed in the Team Europe Ryder Cup selection process?

It’s hard to find much fault with the Ryder Cup selections European Team captain Luke Donald made. Still, some did.

It’s hard to find much fault with the Ryder Cup selections Team Europe captain Luke Donald made on Monday morning as he added some aggressive young talent with some wily veterans.

Having Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm gives the European side a mighty strong base.

The additions of Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg give the team a younger look at a time when the American squad added experience.

Still, some fans were scrutinizing Monday’s announcement and a story at our sister site For The Win, part of the USA Today Sports network, highlighted the perceived snubs:

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald on picking ‘cool cucumber’ Ludvig Aberg, a 23-year-old rookie

Donald said two of his rookies are the future of European golf as he explained his captain’s picks.

It’s been a big two days for Ludvig Aberg.

On Sunday, the 23-year-old rising star from Sweden earned his first professional victory on the DP World Tour at the 2023 Omega European Masters. A few hours later Monday morning he was selected as one of Luke Donald’s six captain’s picks for the upcoming 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy.

“He is the latest winner on the DP World Tour and showed yesterday (in Switzerland) that he has the potential to be one of golf’s superstars,” said Donald as he announced the pick.

Aberg won the 2023 Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in just his sixth professional start on the European-based circuit. The former No. 1 amateur and four-year star at Texas Tech became the first player in history to earn PGA Tour membership via PGA Tour University earlier this season and made his pro debut at the RBC Canadian Open. This season on Tour, the former star at Texas Tech has four top-25 finishes in seven starts, including a T-4 at the John Deere Classic.

“If you would have told me a couple of months ago that I was gonna be in these conversations I probably wouldn’t have believed you,” said Aberg. “Obviously super, super fortunate to be in this position and I can’t thank the captain and the vice-captains enough.”

“It’s been quite a lot these last couple of months but it’s been so exciting and I can’t wait for Rome.”

“I really do have a lot of faith and belief in Ludvig. I think he’s a generational player. He’s gonna be around a long time and he’s gonna do amazing things,” Donald added. “If he wasn’t going to play this one, he was going to play the next eight Ryder Cups. That’s how good I think he is.”

“He proved to us on Sunday with his grit and determination, he’s such a cool cucumber, too,” Donald continued. “He just goes about his business so easily and doesn’t take much time. He has a great way about him.”

Donald played with Aberg in Detroit earlier this summer at the 2023 Rocket Mortgage Classic and “was blown away by his game.” As the young Swede continued to progress, Donald challenged him to go to Europe and play a few weeks.

More: Meet the 12 players and captains representing Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy

“He showed his mettle by committing to come over here the last two weeks,” Donald said. “If he didn’t perform very well then it would have been a different story, but he did. He performed when he needed to.”

The hype around Aberg and the Ryder Cup started with his early success on Tour and blossomed with the Rocket Mortgage pairing. Donald and Co. may have foreshadowed his selection last week when Aberg was paired with European vice captains Nicolas Colsaerts and Edoardo Molinari for the first two rounds at the European Masters.

Aberg will be one of four debutants for Donald’s side in Italy alongside Nicolai Hojgaard, Robert MacIntyre and Sepp Straka.

“I think it’s fine to have rookies in a Ryder Cup. My first one in 2004, you always want that chance to shine. I think 2004 we had five rookies and you know how that result ended,” said Donald, referring to Europe’s 18½-9½ shellacking of the Americans at Oakland Hills in Michigan. “There’s nothing wrong in having these young fresh guys going in there to battle. They are a strong pedigree of golfers, (Aberg), Nicolai, these are the future of European golf.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451201133]

Meet the 12 players and captains representing Team Europe at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Italy

Get to know the 12 players on Team Europe for the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Last week U.S. captain Zach Johnson locked in his 12-player roster for the upcoming 2023 Ryder Cup, and on Monday morning European captain Luke Donald did the same.

After the conclusion of the 2023 Omega European Masters the six automatic qualifiers – three from a world points list and three from a European points list – for Team Europe that are bound for Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Italy were confirmed. Donald then made his six captain’s picks, including a pair of surprise rookies.

Of the 12 players on the roster, four will make their debut in the biennial event against the Americans, who haven’t won on foreign soil since 1993.

Get to know all 12 players and the captains who will represent Team Europe in the 44th playing of the Ryder Cup.