Johnson Wagner has not held back in his criticism of the PGA of America after Jim Furyk was named as the 2027 Ryder Cup captain, while he has also shared who he would have opted for ahead of Adare Manor.
Team USA have finally decided who will lead their side in Ireland next year. Of course, it appeared to be Tiger Woods’ role had he wanted to take on the captaincy.
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But with Woods taking himself out of contention, the PGA of America have turned to Furyk. The 55-year-old previously captained the American team at the 2018 Ryder Cup.
Johnson Wagner hits out at the decision to name Jim Furyk as the Ryder Cup captain
Unfortunately, that proved to be a fairly miserable week for him. Europe ran out 17.5-10.5 winners at Le Golf National, and some of Furyk’s decisions looked to be rather baffling.
With that, Johnson Wagner has told CBS Sports that he cannot understand the thinking of turning to Furyk again as Team USA look to win a first away Ryder Cup since 1993.
“Furyk did a great job at Royal Montreal as Presidents Cup captain back in 2024, where he had Kis and Webb on his assistant roster. He was also an assistant for Keegan Bradley at Bethpage and that debacle of a Ryder Cup. But I want to go back to 2018 in Paris, one of the worst away Ryder Cup captains we’ve had,” he said.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
“17.5-10.5, and you know Jim Furyk has played nine Ryder Cups. Nine! He’s been a part of two winning teams: 1999 and 2008. His overall record is 10-20-4. Keegan Bradley, in my opinion, was that bridge captain. I’ve talked about this a lot from Bethpage, the European side, Luke Donald had Jose Maria Olazabal and Thomas Bjorn as assistant captains. And Keegan’s only assistant that was a former Ryder Cup captain was Jim Furyk, who as we all know, it was an absolute debacle in Paris.
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“He put Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson out in alternate shot on Friday, two guys who couldn’t hit a fairway collectively on a set-up that was tight with heavy rough. On Saturday, what does he do? He puts Tiger out with Bryson in alternate shot. It was Finau, Mickelson, Woods, and Bryson who were his four captain’s picks. I think they won two matches combined. Tiger was obviously exhausted coming off the win at the Tour Championship the week before. But I’m very upset with this selection.
“I think Keegan was the bridge, it should have gone to probably Webb or Brandt. And then going forward, you’ve got a nice lineage. And if you’re going to go old school like this, it should have been Stewart Cink. Stewart Cink should have had the opportunity to be the captain. Jim’s already had his chance.
“Love him as a player, love him as a person. I thought he did a great job broadcasting at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, but I am extremely disappointed in this selection for captain. I thought it was a safe move by the PGA of America. And when are they ever going to get this right?”
Webb Simpson backed to be an ‘incredible’ Ryder Cup captain
Now that the dust has settled on the decision to appoint Furyk, it does appear to make some sense from the PGA of America.
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Clearly, it is not inspiring. But Team USA needs to start putting the foundations in place that will allow them to close the gap to Europe on a consistent basis.
Furyk is no stranger to the role. So he can take a number of assistant captains under his wing, and hopefully provide them with some of the experience that will allow a line of successors to emerge.
Nevertheless, Wagner believes that Webb Simpson should have been the man to lead the American side at Adare Manor.
“I thought Cink should have had Bethpage personally. And then once you passed him over for Bethpage, I think it should have gone to someone else. I do think Webb Simpson is going to make an incredible captain at some point,” he said.
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“He’s brilliant, he’s still active enough on the PGA Tour to be close with these guys, to play enough rounds with them. But he’s not playing so much that he doesn’t have the time to do it. For me, that was the guy to pick.”
Simpson was part of Keegan Bradley’s backroom team at Bethpage. And you would imagine that he would take on a similar role in 2027.
That may make him a standout candidate for 2029 at Hazeltine. Clearly, Wagner is confident that he will not disappoint when he gets his chance.
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