Furyk To Announce Versailles Vice-Captains With Stricker A Certainty But Will He Pick Tiger?

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida … 

USA Ryder Cup captain, Jim Furyk will announce the first of his Versailles vice-captains 4pm US East Coast time Tuesday and with the likelihood of Tiger Woods being handed an assistants role for a second Ryder Cup running.

Furyk will be on hand at the PGA of America head office at Palm Beach Gardens and less than a two-minute drive from PGA National and host to this week’s Honda Classic where Woods is competing.

Furyk, and a veteran of nine Ryder Cup player caps and a 2016  vice-captain, is expected to announce the appointment of Steve Stricker, and hot favourite for the 2020 USA captaincy, along with 2016 victorious captain Davis Love 111 and possibly Woods.

Other Furyk candidates could be Fred Couples and/or Tom Lehman.

Tiger Woods and Davis Love with the Ryder Cup.

However, Woods threw a spanner of sorts into the works last week suggesting he would like to be heading to France as both a player and a vice-captain.

Furyk, who returned to competition last week at the Genesis, responded to Woods comments saying:

“Tiger’s played two events and he looks pretty solid and now we’re talking Ryder Cup. It just shows you how good he’s been.

“So, I don’t think it would be impossible.  ‘We talked about it and decided to kind of let nature take its course. I’d love to have him be part of the team but we’re in February and he’s completed one event.

“True, he looked pretty solid but let’s see how he does over the summer.’

Stricker, 50 is very much the Paul McGinley of U.S. golf and with McGinley, then relatively unknown in the States when chosen to lead Europe, ahead of humbling a Tom Watson led hapless American team.

Tiger Woods and Steve Stricket – Assured heading to Versailles as vice-captains.

Stricker, and like McGinley, has not won a Major Championship but he knows all there is to know about Ryder Cup competition, and just like McGinley, he enjoys the enormous respect of players and Ryder Cup organising officials.

The Wisconsin native has played in three Ryder Cups and was a vice-captain under Love 111 when the USA humbled Europe at Hazeltine in 2016.

And this team background led to Stricker being appointed 2017 USA Presidents Cup captain, and while many observers believed the Internationals may have ended a 19-year winless drought, Stricker’s men thumped their rivals by eight points.

“There is a strong chance I will be part of Jim’s team and I guess all will be revealed Tuesday afternoon,” said Stricker.

“The thing is I have been monitoring the new wave of young players competing on the European Tour and while I have not met guys like Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton, I know of them and I know how good their games are.

“I just love getting up on Sunday morning and watching the European Tour on TV and see who is doing well including watching Tommy and Rory doing well in the Middle East.”

Rival European Team captain, Thomas Bjorn has selected one of five vice-captains he will take to France and that being Swede Robert Karlsson.

He is due to announce further vice-captains during May’s BMW PGA Championship.



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