The PGA of America selected Jim Furyk to be the United States captain for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland, making him the ninth man to captain the U.S. team on multiple occasions.
Furyk’s selection wasn’t cause for celebration for most United States fans, as it’s hard to overlook the dreadful result from the last time Furyk oversaw the U.S. team in a 17.5-10.5 loss to Europe in 2018 at Le Golf National in France. That was the third-most lopsided loss in U.S. Ryder Cup history, and while Furyk has said there are things he’d want to do differently if given the chance, his selection didn’t create much excitement among the U.S. golf faithful.
Exciting the fans for an away Ryder Cup isn’t the main job of the U.S. captain, though, it’s to get the American squad to finally play up to their full capability on foreign soil — somewhere they haven’t won since 1993. While we are more than a year away from the U.S. Ryder Cup team getting settled, one player we know will be on the team is World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is fully behind Furyk as captain.
“Jim and Tabitha both are really, they’re great people. Jim is a really, really good leader. He’s extremely organized in the way he does things,” Scheffler said. “I think with Jim you just have so much experience across so many team events whether it’s playing or being a captain. The guy’s been on those teams for seems like for forever. He had such a long career out here and was so good for a long time that he played on a bunch and then he’s such a great guy that he’s been a captain and assistant captain on ’em as well. I think he brings a lot of knowledge and experience to the table. He has a way that he likes to do things and he’s very experienced and in that role and I think he’s going to do a great job.”
Scheffler played for Furyk in the 2024 Presidents Cup and has had Furyk as a vice captain in each of the last three Ryder Cups — but wasn’t on that ill-fated 2018 team. While Scheffler is excited about Furyk getting another crack at Ryder Cup captaincy, he made it clear that he was not consulted as part of the decision.
“I mean, to answer your input question, no, I have no input at all. I found out when you did,” Scheffler said. “Would I like to have input? If they want me to have input, then I can have input. But the PGA of America runs the Ryder Cup, and it’s not the PGA Tour, it’s not the players, it’s the PGA of America, it’s not us. So if they want my opinion, they got my phone number, I’m sure. I had to fill out a bunch of forms to play in the tournament.”
Having the support of your best player is vital for a captain’s success, because if the best player is onboard with the plan, it’s hard for others not to buy in. That said, Scheffler was vocal in the lead-up to the 2025 Ryder Cup about how much he believed in Keegan Bradley and was impressed by the work he’d put into the captaincy, and that wasn’t enough to get the U.S. back in possession of the Ryder Cup.
One of Furyk’s most important jobs at Adare Manor will be figuring out how to turn Scheffler’s matches into U.S. points — something the Americans have failed to do in the last two Ryder Cups. Having the best player in the world isn’t always a blessing, as it can be hard to pair them up and the European side always comes into those matches with a little extra juice.
For years, Tiger Woods occupied that role for the U.S. team and struggled to produce strong results, going 13-21-3. Now Scheffler has taken that title and has had similar struggles, going 1-6-2 in the last two Ryder Cups.
If the United States is going to pull off their own upset in an away Ryder Cup in 2027, they have to get more out of their best player. Some of that is on Scheffler to produce his best on the Ryder Cup stage, but it’s also incumbent on Furyk to find the partner that helps maximize and complement’s Scheffler’s talents.
Furyk will need to spend the next 16 months cracking the code on finding the right partner for Scheffler in foursomes and four-balls. He has the support of his best player, but now he has to figure out how to turn Scheffler’s presence into an American positive for once.