Jim Furyk admits U.S. Ryder Cup team has foursomes issues and promises changes

2027 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk admitted that the Americans have issues in foursomes and promised to change the way the team prepares.

Furyk spoke at Tuesday’s “Year to Go” Ryder Cup press conference. A reporter reminded him of the Americans’ results in the alternate-shot format over the past four team events: Europe has beaten the U.S. 13-3 in foursomes over the past two Ryder Cups, while the Internationals lead 13-5 in foursomes over the past two Presidents Cups.

“Your numbers are absolutely spot on. I know them very, very well—I’ve lived them over the last four events,” Furyk said.

The next Ryder Cup will be held in September 2027 at Adare Manor in Ireland. Furyk acknowledged that the U.S. has had “issues” in foursomes.

“I plan on making some changes. First, as captains, we need to do a better job of putting players into good pairings and good positions. But I also don’t think we’ve prepared properly for those matches.

“And I promise you, we will be prepared. I’m going to ask this team to do more than any other United States team has done in the past. We’ll be prepared and ready to go in that format, and hopefully we can showcase our talent. We have too much depth to have that poor a record in foursomes,” Furyk said.

Furyk said the additional preparation would take place both on and off the course. First and foremost, the team will need to be at Adare Manor next summer. Veteran players will also mentor younger players, while the team will be viewed not simply as 12 players but as a broader Team USA program built for the future.

“We have a number of really talented young American players who are going to give them a run for a spot on this team. It’s exciting for me as a captain, and I’m looking forward to that process,” Furyk said.

On pairing decisions, Furyk said he would begin with the demands of the course. Statistics and player compatibility would then also factor into the process.

“You have to look at what the course is asking for in both formats—four-ball and foursomes—and then plan accordingly. There are a lot of different things you can do.

“I like to surround myself with the best people. I have a lot of trust in our analytics and in vice captains Justin Leonard and Stewart Cink. I have a good team around me, and we’ll continue to build on it. I’ll gather all the information and then make those difficult decisions about how we pair players,” Furyk said.

Near the end of the press conference, a reporter pointed to the U.S. team’s strength in singles. The Americans won the singles 9.5-2.5 at last month’s Presidents Cup on their way to victory, and they also won last year’s Ryder Cup singles 8.5-3.5 before falling short overall.

Furyk said the fight in singles was good, but the team had lost too much ground before the final day.

“You have to look at the first four sessions in both events. If you’re seven points down at Bethpage, you’re digging too deep of a hole. It doesn’t matter how well you play on Sunday; we were three points down at Medinah.

“And again, we go back to the glaring weakness—mostly alternate shot. We did get beaten in four-ball at Bethpage, but over the last four years it’s been alternate shot. That’s our focus. We need to do a better job as a team and get ourselves into Sunday in a much better position. That will obviously be the focus: team golf,” Furyk said.