US captain Jim Furyk can hardly wait for the Presidents Cup in Montreal
FedEx Cup Playoffs return match in the Rockies; LPGA prepares for final major in the birthplace of golf
Furyk Foundation President Tabitha Furyk discusses impact on charities
The Constellation Furyk & Friends PGA Tour Champions event will be held for the fourth time at Timuquana Country Club from October 4-6.
Jim Furyk is watching the performance of the stars of the American PGA Tour this season and can hardly wait to come to the Presidents Cup in Royal Montreal from September 26 to 29, where he will captain the US team against Mike Weir and the international team.
He spoke in particular of the four players with the highest points, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa And Wyndham Clark, He also made the U.S. Olympic team in Paris, where Schauffele won the gold medal.
“The interesting thing is that these young players grew up together in junior golf and college golf, now they’re playing on the tour and with their tremendous competitive spirit, I’m always amazed at how much time they spend together and how much they pick on each other,” Furyk said Monday at Furyk & Friends Media Day about the camaraderie between these four and other American players.
“The PGA Tour people who were with them in Paris said the four Americans on the team were inseparable,” Furyk said. “They said every practice round, the support they gave each other, the help they gave each other, the way they hung out together in the evenings … absolutely amazing, the amount of time they spent together. As a captain, those are the things you want to hear. I just smile when I hear that.”
The top six players on the points list after the Tour Championship automatically qualify for the U.S. Presidents Cup team and Furyk will make six captain recommendations in about two weeks.
Five of the current top six players were on the Ryder Cup team that lost in Italy last year, and Furyk expects them to use that as motivation to secure their tenth consecutive Presidents Cup victory.
“I visited a lot of players in Memphis (the site of the St. Jude Classic) last week and our guys are very motivated,” he said. “They’re not really happy with the result they got in Rome last year. They’re excited to turn things around. I don’t think that can happen fast enough here.”
Furyk said the FedEx Playoffs, the second leg of which takes place this week in Colorado, could see the player of the year crowned between Scheffler (who won the Masters and The Players in addition to Olympic gold) and Schauffele (winner of the PGA and British Open).
“If Xander were to win the FedExCup, I think it would be a really tough decision,” Furyk said. “But it’s incredible what a year these two guys have had … absolutely incredible.”
PGA Tour: Return to Castle Rock after 18 years
Event: BMW Championship, Thursday-Sunday, Castle Pines Golf Club, Castle Rock, Colorado.
What is the handbag? $20 million ($4 million and 2,000 FedEx Cup points for the winner).
Who won last year? Viktor Hovland hit a home run with a 61 in the final round at Olympia Fields Golf Club, beating Scottie Scheffler and Matthew Fitzpatrick by two strokes.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m.). NBC (Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2-6 p.m.).
Registered players from the region (FedEx Cup ranking): Billy Horschel (19), Davis Thompson (26), Brian Harman (29), JT Poston (34).
Noteworthy: The second round of the playoffs will be held on the Rocky Mountain golf course that hosted the International, an event from 1986 to 2006 that used the Stableford points format and was won twice by Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson each. … The top 10 players on the FedEx Cup points list enter the tournament with Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg, Saith Theegala, Patrick Cantlay and Sungjae Im. … The top 30 players on the points list after this week will qualify for the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
LPGA Tour: The last major of the season takes place at the birthplace of golf
Event: Women’s British Open, Thursday-Sunday, St. Andrews Old Course, Fife, Scotland.
What is the handbag? $9 million ($1.35 million for the winner).
Who won last year? Lilia Vu won easily in Walton Heath, England, with a six-stroke lead over Charley Hull.
How to watch on TV: USA (Thursday-Sunday, 7am-2pm); NBC (Saturday-Sunday, 12pm-2pm).
Registered players from the region: Austin Kim.
Noteworthy: The final major of the season will be played on the Old Course for the first time since 2013, when Stacy Lewis won. She is taking part this week, along with Nelly Korda, Celene Boutier, Allisen Corpuz, Lydia Ko, Brook Henderson and Rose Zhang. … The Open was played on the Old Course in 2007 and Lorena Ochoa won.
PGA Tour Champions: Vijay Singh defends on old ground
Event: Ally Challenge, Friday-Sunday, Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club, Grand Blanc, Michigan.
What is the handbag? $2.2 million in prize money ($330,000 for the winner).
Who won last year? Vijay Singh of Ponte Vedra Beach shot a 68 in the final round, beating Jeff Maggert by one stroke.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Friday, 3-5 p.m.; Saturday, 3-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2-6 p.m.).
Registered players from the region: David Duval, Fred Funk, Singh.
Noteworthy: Singh won at Warwick Hills for the fourth time in his career. He won there three times when the PGA Tour hosted the Buick Open there. … Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen, John Daly and Stephen Ames also play.
Korn Ferry Tour: Finale begins in Boise
Event: Albertson’s Boise Open, Thursday-Sunday, Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Idaho.
What is the handbag? $1.5 million ($270,000 for the winner).
Who won last year? Chan Kim was in top form this weekend, shooting rounds of 64-64 to beat David Kocher by two strokes.
How to watch on TV: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 7-9 p.m.).
Registered players from the region (KF points ranking): Ricky Castillo (24), Danny Walker (30), Thomas Walsh (50), Tano Goya (54), Cody Blick (58), Doc Redman (73), Philip Knowles (84), Chandler Blanchet (85), Chris Baker (88), Rick Lamb (99), Julian Suri (101), Dillon Board (109), Joey Garber (115), Evan Harmeling (116), Russell Knox (119), Fred Biondi (123), Jonathan Byrd (127 ), Nick Gabrelcik (131), Trey Mullinax (T133), Brett Drewitt (135), Dawson Armstrong (152).
Noteworthy: The Korn Ferry Finals will begin with a field of 156 in Hillcrest. The top 144 on the points list will advance to the Simmons Bank Open Sept. 12-15 in Nashville, the top 120 will then travel to Columbus, Ohio, for the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship Sept. 19-22, and the remaining 75 will compete in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship Oct. 3-6 in French Lick, Indiana.
What are the (golf) odds?
BMW Championship: Hard Rock Bet sees Scheffler as the favorite at +350, followed by Schauffele at +575. McIlroy is at +1200, Morikawa at +1400 and Matsuyama and Hovland at +1750.
Open ladies: Hard Rock Bet sees Japan’s Ayaka Furue as the favorite (+1400), perhaps with an eye on her two LPGA victories in Europe: the 2022 Scottish Open and this year’s Evian Championship in France. Next is Korda at +1600, followed by Jin-Young Ko at +1750.
