Jim Furyk’s awful Ryder Cup record, steady 2014 play lead American team at Gleneagles

Jim Furyk comes to the 2014 Ryder Cup off one of the best seasons of his long and decorated career. Furyk has been deadly consistent over the past couple years -- he’s in constant contention and always near the top of the leaderboard, whether it’s a regular PGA Tour stop or one of the game’s biggest events.

The only problem is he hasn’t won, failing to close numerous 54-hole leads, a four-year winless drought on Tour persisting even through this world-class play has probably deserved several victories. There have been close calls at the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and the WGC events, but Furyk keeps coming up just a shot or two short on Sunday. A lot of times it’s due to the other players streakiness rather than his “choking,” but the reputation and narrative now dogs him.

That narrative really started to set its teeth into Furyk at the 2012 Ryder Cup, when he gave away a critical Sunday singles match to Sergio Garcia. The loss included a missed putt from a fairly makable length on the 18th green, and it became a major part of Europe’s historic comeback.

So what can we really expect from Furyk? He’s probably the best irons player on the team. And aside from Rickie Fowler, he’s probably the best player overall on the team right now (he’s the highest world ranked American right now at No. 4). But form and results have never quite meshed in recent years for Furyk. There’s always that doubt that something ugly is going to happen at the wrong time, or something is not going to go right up on the green. I even made a mean joke about it last month when he blew a short bunny putt that all but signaled the end of his PGA Championship hopes on the weekend.

Furyk is, by all accounts, one of the nicest guys on Tour and someone who completely understands the Ryder Cup and what it takes to win. The execution, however, has been lacking and his record reflects this abysmal stretch of Cups in which the Americans have lost seven of nine. He’s got a ghastly 1-8-1 record in Fourball, and a 9-17-4 record overall. You would think that makes it hard to put him out there for every session, but that would also be ignoring the game he’s shown all season, one when many of his teammates have been inconsistent.

If we’re reading the signs from the practice rounds correctly, it appears that Furyk has the task of partnering up with Patrick Reed, the brash young gun who was always going to have trouble finding someone who wanted to play with him. Furyk is not particularly long off the tee, so Reed can help him there. And Furyk will obviously try to corral Reed and keep him balanced in the most pressurized setting of the temperamental prospect’s career. For Furyk’s sake and for all American fans’ sakes, here’s hoping the veteran finds some success during this underdog weekend.

Age: 44
World ranking: 4
Ryder Cup record (Win-Loss-Halve): 9-17-4
Past Ryder Cup appearance: 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012
How he qualified: Automatic spot -- 3rd in standings (6,707.694 points)