Interview Jim FurykJim Furyk knows of the old joke in the American team locker room at past Ryder Cups. Naturally, it involves Tiger Woods. It seems that past US captains would ask players to fill out sheets of paper asking them who they'd like to play with, but also who they were not comfortable with.
"We always joked that we had 11 guys that had 'Tiger Woods' written on the sheet . . . maybe some people are intimidated," said Furyk, currently the world's number two-ranked player.
Perhaps the weight of letting Woods down with some poor shots had a detrimental effect on some of his old partners. But, in Furyk, Woods has found an unlikely kindred spirit. The partnership that was forged in securing the President's Cup in Canada last year, where they secured two and a half from three points, seems set to be renewed here at The K Club.
If potential team-mates were intimidated by the prospect of playing with Woods, what effect will it have on a European opponent to be paired against the two top-ranked players in the world? Maybe a galvanising effect, as occurred at Oakland Hills in 2004 when Colin Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington usurped Woods and Phil Mickelson.
But the chemistry between Tiger and Jim is a lot less explosive than that generated by matching Tiger with Phil. "Our mentalities are a lot the same," observed Furyk. "We attack a lot of holes in similar ways, we read putts very similarly. Our thought processes are a lot alike. Obviously, he can attack the golf course from different angles than I can because of his power and length, but that helps in fourball type competition . . . you know, we get along pretty well.
"Tiger's the best player in the world so you want to put him in positions where he can take advantage and play his game and play well."
Apart from a first round exit in last week's world matchplay at Wentworth, Furyk's form in recent months has been mightily impressive, surpassed only by one man: Woods. Furyk had gone 2nd-4th-4th-2nd-29th-3rd-1st in the seven tournaments running from the US Open in Winged Foot up to winning the Canadian Open a fortnight ago. His early exit from Wentworth led to an early arrival here at Straffan, so he got in some practice ahead of his team-mates.
"I'm excited the week has gotten started. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday seems to take like 10 days, and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday flies right by. We're all excited to get these days under our belt and it is good preparation, (but) everyone's excited for Friday," said Furyk, who will be competing in his fifth Ryder Cup.
Like many American players of a certain vintage, he has tasted defeat more often than victory. On three of the previous four outings in the match, he was on the losing side. The exception was Brookline in 1999. Furyk's also conscious that, now, he is seen as one of the true leaders in the US team. He's also aware of the consequences felt by the American team when the so-called dream team of Mickelson and Woods lost both matches on the opening day in 2004.
"You want your best player to go out there and make a statement . . . with Tiger and Phil going out the first day in the last Ryder Cup and not winning the matches, and being our two best players, that was a boost of confidence for them and a shot for us." He doesn't want the situation to be replicated again this time round.
