In the hours after the United States began processing their loss to Europe in the 2018 Ryder Cup, Patrick Reed spoke to the New York Times to suggest he had little input into his pairing with Tiger Woods for two fourballs matches in Paris rather than Jordan Spieth, with whom he'd formed an almost unstoppable duo.
Reed said he believed Furyk would revert back to the Reed-Spieth pairing on Saturday afternoon when it became clear the American side was desperate for points to avoid a potentially insurmountable deficit heading into Sunday's 12 singles matches. Reed decried a "buddy system," which he felt excluded input from several players, including him.
However, in an interview with Golf Channel, Furyk disputed Reed's accounting of when the pairs were formed and disclosed, suggesting Reed had plenty of heads up Spieth would team with friend Justin Thomas, just as Reed would play with Woods.
"When I started looking at who (Woods) would pair well with, I kept coming back to Patrick Reed," Furyk said in an interview aired Monday on "Morning Drive." "There was always the idea that we could go Tiger and JT (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."
In fact, Furyk later suggested he had thought of starting the Ryder Cup with Reed and Woods in the opening match, choosing to send them out in the anchor match Friday morning at Reed's behest.
Speaking to the Times, Reed theorized he didn't play with Spieth because of the two-time major winner's wishes. Reed and Spieth aren't particularly friendly, said the Masters champion, but he thought their record spoke for itself.
“The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me,” Reed said. “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 did lay out the possibility he could pivot to sending Reed and Spieth out together if things weren't going according to plan. However, Furyk was likely influenced by Reed's poor play in the Saturday morning fourballs match with Woods, when Reed found a number of Le Golf National's water hazards and was said by critics he would have shot above 80 on his own ball.
Despite the criticism laid at his feet for the 17.5-10.5 American loss in Paris, Furyk said he would do it all over again with the same dozen guys he had.
"I'd take those 12 players into the fire any day, on any course. And I still would," Furyk said. "Last week didn't work out the way we wanted, but I love those guys and I love what we had together in the team room. And I'd do it all over again."
