An email conversation with Jim Furyk: 'The Ryder Cup is huge and believe it, we want it back'

Matchplay the best way to prepare for the K Club; Partnering Tiger at the top of America's team; Extending friendship between the keenest of rivals; Visiting a country with beer better than Bud

What did you make of your first HSBC World Match Play event last week? Obviously I didn't enjoy getting beat in the first round, but I sure enjoyed Wentworth and this great competition. I'd heard a lot about the HSBC World Match Play. It's been around a long time, since the '60s, has a lot of importance, a list of amazing winners and it's a unique event. We get treated fantastically and I am very glad that I made the trip. I'd like to come back some day.

Did the early exit affect your preparations for this week's Ryder Cup? I said at the Canadian Open the week previous that one of the great things in playing there - apart from it being a wonderful competition in its own right that I would have played in anyway - was that I wanted to load up and not to go to Wentworth on the back of two weeks off. I knew that as it was matchplay I could maybe play pretty good and still lose and just have had 36 holes of golf in three weeks in preparation for the Ryder Cup.

American players are often accused of not leaving their own shores. What do you see as the main merits of travelling to play? I would just say that everything is refreshing. It's not the same routine we have in the States. There's new faces here in the media room, new fans in the stands, different procedures, different physiotherapy truck, just a different process all round. That's it really, as our cultures are probably a little more similar than we are led to believe. I'm not saying everything gets monotonous at home, but it's kind of the same week every week, so it's nice to mix it up and get a little different routine and see what the European Tour does over here.

Do you enjoy matchplay, and if so what are the merits of it over strokeplay? Like coming overseas, it's just great to have variety. We have a two-week run at matchplay which is unusual, but exciting.

You will arrive at Dublin Airport this morning for a certain match against the Europeans at the K Club on Friday. In one sentence, sum up what it will be like. I can do it in one word - "huge". Believe it, we want it back.

The worst-kept secret of the week will be your partnership with Tiger Woods. At the President's Cup last year you managed to get the best out of him. What is similar about your games? What makes for a good partnership is game and personality. In both, we have a few obvious differences but a lot of similarities. On the course, the one glaring difference - apart from Tiger being the best in the world, of course - is that he has a lot more power. I'm very average length and he's one of the longest. But golf holes are set up with options and we attack them in a similar way. We aim to put the ball in the same spot on the fairway to go for that green, that pin. Now that might be a three-iron for him and a five-wood for me, but it doesn't matter as we're seeing the hole in the same way.

And what about your personalities? You don't seem that similar. We're probably a lot more similar than most think. We get along well. I enjoy the banter out there and talking to him on the course. We read putts the same way and it's no wonder he puts the ball in the hole so often as he gave me a lot of good lines at the President's Cup. But saying that, of course we have differences, but sometimes opposites attract at times and we have enough in common to get along very well.

Is Tiger difficult to play with? Not at all. In fact, it's very easy. We are very comfortable playing together.

There's always been the question of his commitment to the Ryder Cup. What do you think? Not for me there hasn't. I have never doubted Tiger's commitment to the Ryder Cup.

Do you feel the Americans are underdogs this year? I think we are for the first time in a while, especially after Oakland Hills two years ago. We were very disappointed with ourselves there and we are determined it will be different this time around.

You've said that the Ryder Cup you remember most was the "War on the Shore" at Kiawah Island in 1991. What was it about that match? Enough has been said about that match. I'm just concentrating on this year.

Is there any chance of such animosity surfacing this week or will the presence of Europe's Darren Clarke, so soon after his wife's death, put everything into proper perspective for the two teams? The last few matches have been played in a great spirit and that is how it will be in Ireland. One and all of us will all be delighted to see Darren playing. You know, we really get on great with the European players. That's one of the reasons I enjoyed last week at the HSBC World Match Play Championship so much - getting to hang out with some guys I know well and some guys that I am just getting to know.

You have flown so quickly up the world rankings this year that last week you were No 2. What have you put this incredible rise down to? I've never been critical of the world rankings but, as I said in the States, it has not been a driving force for me either. To have been over-enthusiastic about being No 2 would therefore be a little hypocritical. It's a nice side note, but I also realise that in the big scheme of things it's not that important.

Is becoming No 1 the main aim now? The driving force for me is to try to improve my game, try to win tournaments, and kind of let those rankings fall as they may. I realise that when I'm teeing up as world No 2 it's not important to anyone else in the field, in any field that I am playing in. So, like I said, it's a nice side note, but when I won the Canadian Open two weeks ago to go up to No 2, it was the title that was the most important thing, and that was what I was really proud of.

Your father is a greatly respected coach. Why on earth then, does your swing look so weird? Weird? I'm pretty happy with my swing right now and would say I am pretty happy with how effective it is!

Do you have any other coaches, apart from your father? You must have a sports psychologist as you seem so unflappable. No, I've never worked with a sports psychologist. I have nothing against it. It's helped a lot of people. I've really relied on my father as a teacher, both mentally and physically, although he really has no background mentally. He's a golf professional. I'm also self-taught, in a lot of ways. You know, golf is really no different than any other sport, and that's all I did growing up - football, basketball, baseball. It's just going out there and competing and trying to win. A lot of it comes down to experience. The best "teacher" is being in that position and learning from your mistakes. I stall on Sunday just as much as the next guy. I've been pissed off more times than I care to remember. But you try to take from those, pull from those, instead of just throwing them out and going into next week and having a short memory.

Will you be getting stuck into the Guinness this week? I love the beer here - it's even better than Budweiser! I also really like the tea.

Following an exciting climax to the HSBC World Match Play Championship yesterday, the winner will qualify for November's HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China. To follow all the action, visit www.hsbcgolf.com

The lowdown on Jim Furyk

* Born: 12 May 1970, West Chester, Pennsylvania

Lives: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

College: University of Arizona

Turned professional: 1992

Highest world ranking: 2 (September 2006)

* PGA TOUR WINS

1995: Las Vegas Invitational

1996: UA Hawaiian Open

1998: Las Vegas Invitational

1999: Las Vegas Invitational

2000: Doral-Ryder Open

2001: Mercedes Championships

2002: Memorial Tournament

2003: US Open, Buick Open

2005: Cialis Western Open

2006: Wachovia Championship, Canadian Open

* NATIONAL TEAMS

Ryder Cup: 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004

President's Cup: 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005

* OTHER PROFESSIONAL VICTORIES

1993: Nike Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic (Nike Tour)

1997: Argentine Open

1998: Fred Meyer Challenge (with David Duval)

2003: PGA Grand Slam of Golf 2005: Nedbank Golf Challenge (South Africa - unofficial event)