Is player form a worry for US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk?

By Rahul Banerji

Scores at the ongoing Tour Championship for FedEx Cup honours are not proving a pretty sight for America’s Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk.

Eleven of his team of 12 are in action at the East Lake Golf Club in Alanta and of them, only Tiger Woods is showing form.

On day two of the Tour Championship, just Woods (-2) and Justin Thomas (-1) had sub-par cards.

All the others – Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickleson, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka – returned level par or worse cards.

The 12^th and final member of Furyk’s squad, Jordan Speith, never even made it to the elite 30-man field for the Atlanta event.

The Europeans on the other hand are having a reasonably good time of it, which will please Thomas Bjorn.

Justin Rose, well on his way to the FedEx Cup title with other contenders falling away, shares the lead on seven under par with Tiger Woods.

Rory McIlroy is third on the leaderboard on five under while Jon Rahm is a shot behind.

Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey too were in red figures for Friday. Only Francesco Molinari of the six Europe Ryder Cup team members playing at East Lake is not having a great time.

Make of this what you will.

Focus on Tiger

But the attention at Atlanta is elsewhere.

He had a second double bogey in as many days and was not as sharp as day one, but Tiger Woods leads a PGA Tour event after 36 holes for the first time since the 2015 Wyndham Championship.

“Best way to describe it is I grinded out a round today,” Woods said. “For the most part of the day, I did that.

“I didn’t hit it very well overall today. Didn’t quite have the sharpness that I had yesterday, and it was pretty evident.”

Woods starts the weekend alongside Rose looking for a first win since the 2013 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.

Looking forward

“It’s going to be fun,” Woods said. “Rosey and I have known each other for a very long time and been good friends, and we’ll have a good time tomorrow.

“We’re going to obviously be competing, but also I think we’re both going to enjoy competing against one another. We’ve still got a long way to go, still got 36 more holes to go, and there’s a lot of golf to be played.

“I’m rolling the ball well, but, more importantly, I need to leave the ball in the correct spots.

“Above the holes is not easy this week, and so it’s imperative I hit the ball in the fairway so I can control my spin coming into the greens. Yesterday I had a bunch of uphill putts, and hence I shot 5-under.”

And any title-winning thoughts, he was asked. “I’ve got 36 more holes to go,” was the reply, “and hopefully I’ll be answering that question come Sunday night.”

Also read: Ryder Cup slot a fitting tribute to Tiger Woods’ tenacity