Jim Furyk hits back at Patrick Reed's Ryder Cup claims
The Masters champion claimed he was 'blindsided' about being split from usual playing partner Jordan Spieth
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Jim Furyk hit back at Patrick Reed’s post-Ryder Cup comments in his first interview since returning from the US’ 17.5-10.5 defeat in Paris.
Reed wrecked the illusion of newfound camaraderie in the American team just hours after the Ryder Cup ended when he claimed to the New York Times that he had been "blindsided" about being paired with Tiger Woods rather than usual playing partner Jordan Spieth.
Reed laid the blame at the feet of Furyk who has now refuted the Masters champion's comments as nothing but fiction.
Ryder Cup 2018 - Best pictures
"When I started looking at who [Tiger] would pair well with, I kept coming back to Patrick Reed," Furyk told Golfweek. "There was always the idea that we could go Tiger and [Justin Thomas] and Patrick and Jordan, but ultimately they knew going into the week, weeks in advance, they knew they would start the Ryder Cup with Patrick and Tiger being partners.”
Reed and Woods were felled in both of their matches as a pair and Reed caused further antagonism at the post-tournament press conference when he deflected responsibility for his own poor play by stating that Woods had apologised for letting him down.
Furyk also acknowledged reports that Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson almost came to blows in the European locker room as the American side went to offer their congratulations to the winning side. The captain didn’t deny that there was a brief bust-up of sorts but hastened to clarify that any indifference between the pair was smoothed over almost immediately, echoing the comments made by Koepka last Wednesday prior to the Alfred Dunhill Championship last week.
"Whatever altercation started, or what happened, it was very brief," Furyk said. "It was very short. Neither one of them really took anything out of it. They're like brothers. Brothers may argue, brothers get into it. But they're as close as they've ever been, and it really had no effect on either one of them.”
The American media pounced on Furyk’s supposedly poor captaincy, criticising his choice of pairings and wildcard selections, although he was helpless to stem the tide of his under-performing players.
Musing on the damning defeat, Furyk admitted that “it’s been tough” to get over the loss which has left him with a “hollow feeling”.
"I was the leader of that team, and it didn't go the way we wanted. It'll always bother me.”
However, Furyk stayed true to his word on the 18th green at Le Golf National and insisted that there was nothing that he would change if offered the touch of the treasured rewind button, even though his captain’s picks, Woods and Mickelson, boasted a combined record of 0-6/
"I'd take those 12 players into the fire any day, on any course. And I still would. Last week didn't work out the way we wanted, but I love those guys and I love what we had together in the team room. And I'd do it all over again."
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