Furyk open to Reed returning to U.S. Ryder Cup team after 2018 feud
U.S. captain Jim Furyk said Tuesday it would be “great” if Patrick Reed were among the 12 best Americans for the Ryder Cup next year in Ireland, seven years after Reed criticized Furyk’s captaincy in Paris.
Furyk spoke from Adare Manor during a news conference with European captain Luke Donald to mark the matches being one year away.
“We are going to put the best 12 guys, the best team of 12, on this team,” Furyk said. “If Patrick Reed is one of those, that's great. It's been a long time since he's been in our team room.”
Reed hasn’t been on a Ryder Cup team since the 2018 matches, where he told The New York Times he should have been partners with Jordan Spieth and that Furyk should not have benched him twice that week.
The door Furyk is leaving open is a notable one. Reed was among the first to defect to LIV Golf in 2022, and he has not been seriously considered for a U.S. team since. Steve Stricker left him off the 2021 squad that won at Whistling Straits, and he was passed over for Rome in 2023 and Bethpage Black in 2025 despite top-5 finishes at the Masters in both years.
Yet Furyk’s tone on Tuesday suggested no lingering hard feelings. Six players will qualify for the Sept. 17-19 matches, and Furyk will hold six captain’s picks — enough room for a player who currently sits No. 29 in the world ranking.
THE 2018 FEUD AND AFTERMATH
Reed has not been in a U.S. team room since Royal Melbourne in 2019, when he played the Presidents Cup under captain Tiger Woods. The Australian gallery heckled him that week, just days after he was penalized in the Bahamas for improving his lie in a sandy waste area.
The 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits came and went without him. Captain Steve Stricker left Reed off the squad, and the Americans won 19-9 without him.
He was not seriously considered for Rome in 2023 or Bethpage Black in 2025, even though he finished in the top 5 at the Masters in both of those years. The snubs were consistent, per www.tsn.ca, and they followed a pattern set in the fallout from Paris.
That 2018 defeat in France remains the defining clash between Reed and Furyk. Reed went public afterward, telling The New York Times he should have been paired with Jordan Spieth and that Furyk should not have benched him twice that week.
The criticism landed on Furyk's first captaincy and stuck. Reed's Ryder Cup career has been dormant since, a seven-year gap that Furyk now appears willing to close.
REED'S PATH BACK
Reed’s path back to a U.S. team room runs through the European tour, not LIV. Among the first to defect to LIV Golf in 2022, he chose not to renew his contract this year and now leads the European tour points list, which assures him a return to the PGA Tour next season.
Reed sits at No. 29 in the world ranking as he closes out his European tour schedule. That number matters beyond prestige: he could be eligible for PGA Tour signature events if he is in the top 30 at the time those events are staged. His exact eligibility, though, is conditional on his ranking at that moment, and has not been confirmed.
Furyk has already reshaped the qualifying system for Adare Manor. No one begins earning points until the 2027 season, a change that resets the clock for everyone, Reed included. Six players will qualify automatically, and Furyk will hold six captain’s picks for the Sept. 17-19 matches.
That leaves Reed’s most realistic route in Furyk’s hands. A strong return to the PGA Tour next year, with the world ranking to back it, gives the captain a public case to answer. Furyk has said he will put the best 12 on the team, and Reed’s name now sits inside that conversation for the first time in years.
FURYK'S FOURSOMES CONCERN
Reed’s route back runs through Furyk’s hands, but the captain’s more immediate concern is solving a pattern that has gutted American teams regardless of roster.
Foursomes have become the U.S. soft spot. The Americans have been outgained 26-8 in foursomes across the last two Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups combined. Against Europe alone, the deficit is 13-3 in the Ryder Cup.
The numbers get worse in specific sessions. The U.S. was blanked in the opening session at Marco Simone in 2023, and in each of the last two Presidents Cup sessions of that format.
Furyk does not treat those results as bad luck. “I know those numbers very, very well. I’ve lived them the last four,” he said. “It’s not an anomaly. There’s some issues — we un…” The captain’s thought cut off there; his full explanation of those issues has not been confirmed.
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Furyk said the conversation with Reed is coming. “Patrick and I will have that conversation,” he said. No specific date for that talk has been given, and it is not confirmed when it will happen.
“And I'm looking forward to welcoming our best team of 12,” Furyk added.
The path back runs through performance, not sentiment. Reed leads the European tour points list, which assures his return to the PGA Tour next year. That puts him in position to earn his way onto the U.S. squad under the qualifying system Furyk has already adjusted for Adare Manor.
Six players will qualify automatically. Furyk will hold six captain's picks for the Sept. 17-19 matches in Ireland.
The roster math leaves room for Reed if he plays his way into the conversation. It also leaves Furyk with flexibility to address the foursomes problem that has defined the Americans' recent Ryder Cup struggles. The captain's full explanation of those issues has not been confirmed.
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