After Patrick Reed's all-out assault on the U.S. Ryder Cup system and pairing choices last week, U.S. captain Jim Furyk has responded ... kind of. Furyk did a sit-down interview with Golf Channel on Monday to discuss the Ryder Cup, and of course, the Patrick Reed-Jordan Spieth relationship came up as part of the converrsation.
Reed told the New York Times last week that he was "blindsided" by not pairing with his previous partner, Spieth, in Paris for these matches.
"The issue's obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me," Reed told the Times. "I don't have any issue with Jordan. When it comes right down to it, I don't care if I like the person I'm paired with or if the person likes me as long as it works and it sets up the team for success. He and I know how to make each other better. We know how to get the job done."
Furyk told Golf Channel on Monday that the Ryder Cup pairings were known well in front of the actual matches.
"When I started looking at who [Tiger] would pair well with, I kept coming back to Patrick Reed," Furyk told Golf Channel. "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."
This doesn't really change much, I suppose. Both statements can be true. Reed gave no timeline for when he was blindsided, only that he was blindsided. Furyk's decision, whether it was in July or September or last January still could have caught him off guard.
But Furyk also insinuated that there was never any talk before the matches of Reed being unhappy. That only came out after he and Woods went 0-2-0 and Reed sat for two other sessions.
"I talked about [the decision to break up Spieth and Reed] with the vice captains," Furyk told Golf Channel. "Discussed it. Is this something we really want to do? I really felt like we got two great pairings out of it. It was my call. Ultimately I'm the one that made that decision, but it's a decision I stand by.
"We got Jordan and J.T. out of it. They played very well and won three of their four matches. I'll stand by it. I think Tiger and Patrick make a great pair. They went 0-2 playing against a formidable team both times, but I still think they make a good pair."
Then the money quote insinuating that Furyk didn't know Reed was miffed about the Spieth break-up.
"Patrick and Tiger were excited about playing with each other."
The entire saga is a bit of a mess, and it's easy to Monday morning quarterback the entire thing (which I think both media and the Reeds have done). Ultimately the bottom line remains what it was a week ago. Reed and Woods did not play very good golf, and they took a pair of Ls because of it. That's pinned on Furyk because he's the head man, but as always, playing better golf covers up everything else. The U.S. didn't do that, and as a result we're still talking about it a week later.
