United States captain Jim Furyk has defended his decision not to pair Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay together in the opening fourball session of the Presidents Cup today stating he has picked the pairings in the best interests of the team.
Schauffele and Cantlay are close friends and won both of their matches together in the 2021 Ryder Cup but Furyk has opted to keep them apart against the Internationals in Montreal.
Furyk has decided to pair Schauffele with Tony Finau in the opening fourball match against Jason Day and Byeong Hun An while Cantlay will play alongside Sam Burns and they will face Hideki Matsuyama and Corey Conners.
“We are trying to maximise our 10 guys on the course, trying to maximise our potential, get the five groups out there on the golf course,” Furyk said at the pre-tournament press conference.
“Talking to my assistants and the statistical guys there is a number of different reasons.
“We know they play all their practice rounds together, they are great friends, they get along very well.
“No reason other than trying to maximise the potential of our five groups on the golf course.”
Meanwhile, Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala will pair up against the all Aussie duo of Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee. World number one Scottie Scheffler partners Russell Henley against Sungjae Im and Tom Kim while Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley are up against Taylor Pendrith and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.