‘Change will be made’: Jim Furyk promises to evolve U.S. Ryder Cup approach

In the afterglow of the U.S. Team’s historic and miraculous Presidents Cup comeback at Medinah, one lingering question couldn’t be blocked out.

Was the Americans’ approach to team golf that week truly sustainable? Or, more importantly, did U.S. leadership believe it was sustainable?

Much has been made of the U.S. Team’s struggles in recent team events. They’ve lost the last two Ryder Cups and haven’t won on European soil in 34 years. They’ve been largely immune at the Presidents Cup, though their vulnerability in Chicago last month raised some eyebrows. And now, with the drumbeat of the next team event already growing, the question will dominate the news cycle.

Jim Furyk is facing it head-on.

The U.S. Ryder Cup captain was unequivocal during his “year to go” press conference on Tuesday from Adare Manor, the site of the 2027 Ryder Cup in Limerick, Ireland. He said he plans to change how the U.S. operates this year and beyond. That extends throughout the process, from how the team is built to how players are paired, how the team prepares and who helps make decisions behind the scenes.

“We're not real happy with the last two results, so, yes, change will be made,” Furyk said. “We're going to evolve.”

Furyk’s tone was notable. It came with an edict to American golfers.

“I'm going to ask this team to do more than any other United States team has in the past,” Furyk said.

What does that mean?

Well, it starts with the Americans’ most glaring problem: Foursomes. Furyk said the U.S. has far too much depth to be losing so often in the format. The U.S. holds an 8-26 record in Foursomes (alternate shot) play across the last four team events. In three of the events, they’ve been blanked for an entire Foursomes session. Furyk said he will ask players to become more comfortable with the format and that the captains also need to do a better job putting pairings together. What that looks like in practice is still unknown, though Furyk made it clear he expects strong attendance for a U.S. scouting trip to Adare Manor next summer, ahead of The Open Championship. Furyk has already visited the course multiple times. Collin Morikawa tagged along for one of those visits.

Some changes have already been made. One of Furyk’s first pieces of business when he took the captaincy was to change the points list, which determines the automatic qualifiers and helps provide context for filling out the back half of the team with captains' picks.

Furyk shortened the window in which players earn points toward the standings. In previous iterations, the points list encompassed the entire cycle between Ryder Cups – a rolling two-year period. Now, players will only accrue points in the season leading into the Ryder Cup. For the 2027 Ryder Cup, players will begin earning points at The American Express in January, the 2027 PGA Tour season opener. The change was made to ensure the most in-form golfers are rewarded on the points list.

Furyk also made a behind-the-scenes change to his analytics team. Furyk replaced Scouts Consulting Group, which has supported the U.S. in many team competitions dating back to 2016, with a new group led by Justin Ray and Hunter Stewart.

“I love and I have a lot of trust in our analytics right now,” Furyk said.

Furyk isn’t under the impression these changes will lead to quick success. He’s well aware of what the U.S. is up against in Ireland.

“We're the underdogs. I know it's always been played, we come in, the Americans seem to be the favorites,” Furyk said. “This year, there's no chance that that could happen. We're the underdogs.”

That’s a new role for the U.S. and a departure from how the Americans were viewed ahead of Bethpage and Medinah.

Will it lead to different results? That question will linger, too.