THE RYDER CUP

October 6, 2026

Luke Donald

Jim Furyk

Adare Manor

Media Conference

SCOTT CROCKETT: Next September, Europe and the United States will come together for three days of extraordinary competition of unique passion, and the very best that our sport has to offer.

Few people understand the demands of the Ryder Cup better than the two men central to proceedings today. Both know the intensity of this contest. The responsibility that leadership brings and the immense privilege of representing their teams on a global stage. It's, therefore, my pleasure to firstly welcome to the stage a man who since making his Ryder Cup debut as a player in 1997 has represented the United States in '14 consecutive editions of this contest, serving as a player, as a vice captain and a captain.

Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the captain of the 2027 United States Ryder Cup Team, Mr. Jim Furyk.

I now want to welcome to the stage a man who represented Europe four times as a player from 2004 to 2012, served as a vice captain twice and was of course captain for the last two contests at Marco Simone and at Bethpage.

Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the captain of the 2027 European Ryder Cup Team, Mr. Luke Donald.

Gentlemen, welcome. It's great to have you with us here today. Let me start with you, Jim. It's been around six months since you were named as the American captain. Just describe, how has the journey been for you thus far?

JIM FURYK: I'd start with it's interesting how many people recently have said, "So when do you get started?" I joke, I was fortunate enough to be named captain back in April. We started the day after. It's a long journey. There's a lot of preparation, a lot of work that's needed to be done, and it's been fun sharing it with my wife, Tabitha, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us.

But I think "journey" is the correct word. We're excited for the journey.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Similar question to you, Luke, were confirmed a month or so earlier than Jim in March of this year, how has the journey been for you thus far?

LUKE DONALD: Well, the journey has been incredible. To have this opportunity once again, to be able to be a captain once, to do it multiple times, is truly an honour and a privilege. This is probably the third time in a row for me and I'm excited.

The journey, as Jim said, it's a long one. It's something as captains you think about immensely. You think about things every day. You're always working on a plan to give your team the best opportunity. Plans are well underway but very excited for what's to come.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You mentioned this is your third time in a row. Any noticeable differences from the last time or perhaps similarities from the last two?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I think every Ryder Cup is unique, whether you're playing home, whether you're playing away, the venue you're at, the players that you get to captain. It's always ever-changing, and I think the task at hand is always different.

So you know, while I've been captain three times in a row now, those things are always evolving. So it's been fun to kind of think about new ideas, new ways, keep things a little fresh for the players that I'll be captaining.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Jim obviously not your first time as captain, seems like yesterday we were watching you hit shots off the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Any changes you feel in the captaincy role since those times?

JIM FURYK: Yeah, I think the word that Luke used we use a lot in our organisation is evolve. Even the best players in the world, they are trying to stay on top of their games, they are trying to find ways to get better and evolve.

We're not real happy with the last two results, so, yes, change will be made. We're going to evolve. We're going to get better, noticeably, I guess, right off the bat, a new points system moving forward, a new analytics team moving forward. But a number of different changes coming and stuff that we're very excited about.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Today's press conference is a culmination of a couple of days of activity for you both. Before we move into some questions, let's have a look at some of the things you've been up to in the last two days in these parts.

(Video played)

SCOTT CROCKETT: Any particular favourite memory from these last two days.

JIM FURYK: I think quite a few good ones. I enjoyed King James Castle. I enjoyed the concert, meeting folks. Everybody knows I've been watching the Limerick hurling team contingency J.P. took me to the Tipp game earlier in May. To meet John Kiely, Cian Lynch, Dan Morrissey. Got a chance to meet Barry Nash and then Declan Hannon here at the pub. And then Luke and I had the pleasure of having Louise interview us the other night.

I think I've been watching them on the television, watching them from home. Had an opportunity to meet some of these guys with J.P. earlier in the year, and I love the sport. I love kind of sport in Ireland and the fact that they have their own in the Gaelic sports in football and hurling. So I think getting a chance to meet those folks, and especially their manager, was a lot of fun for me.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke, same question to you. Any particular favourite memories of the last couple of days?

LUKE DONALD: I'd say, first of all, it's been great to hang out with Jim and Tabitha. That's something that starts the process. We haven't spent a lot of time together over the last few years, so good to catch up with you and see what you've been up to.

As Jim said, I enjoyed the castle as well. I enjoyed seeing the kids at Rathbane and giving them some excitement. It was the first time we've ever really involved the local community into the Year to Go celebration, so it was nice to see the local community come together and enjoy a really fun night.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Thank you both very much for that. We're now going to move into the main part of today's conference.

Q. Jim, we've all heard that you have taken to hurling all right. Have you tried your hand at it? Have you picked up the hurling sitter yet?

JIM FURYK: Well, when we landed in May, I came in on a red-eye quite tired, I knew J.P. was taking us to the Tipp game, and the GM here, Brendan O'Connor, his son, who I believe is about ten years old, gave me a lesson right out on the front lawn and I have to be honest he was quite a tough teacher. He let me know what I was doing wrong immediately. It's difficult. It's difficult.

They let me know at halftime that I was going to hit an honorary ball in the field, which I have to be honest, kind of freaked me out a little bit. It wasn't a wide open, empty pitch at the time. There had to be a hundred people out there, and I really felt like I might hit someone by accident. But I made contact. I put it on the ground. I took the safe route. Got kind of a golf clap. It wasn't the best shot ever. I got a nice, light golf clap.

But it was nice to be -- just nice to see -- I mean, 32,000 folks in that stadium, and there's no parking. People come in droves and walk from all over the county over town. It was just amazing to see the community embrace their team, the kids running up to their favourite players after the game. It really -- my family just thought the world of it, and kind of really took to the sport because of it.

Q. How are the preparations going, and what are you focussing on right now?

JIM FURYK: A lot of it is broad and general at the moment. I had an opportunity to sit in the team room last week at Medinah at the Presidents Cup, so I had the opportunity to see that team firsthand. I like the fact that we can build our programme on some continuity from year-to-year.

But right now, it's a lot of logistics. As I said, I changed a few things immediately upon taking the captaincy. Working on a lot of travel, being here at Adare, working on some team spaces and trying to figure out how Tabitha and I will build the team room.

You're always coming up with new, creative ways to create that team atmosphere and that bond, but we've got a lot to work on as I said. I feel blessed. I've had some ideas and thoughts about how I thought Team USA could and should be run in the future. I think Terry Clark, our CEO and I, aligned on those, and extremely -- I feel extremely blessed that I was the one chosen to make that charge and change things here for the future, not only for here at Adare Manor but in years to come.

Q. In terms of Adare Manor and the course, how impressed are you with what you've seen here?

LUKE DONALD: It's hard to speak highly enough about this place. I was with J.P. a couple weeks ago and he said something that kind of landed with me. He said, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." And you know, when you walk in the doors here at Adare, you meet the people, the staff, that make this place so special. Every time you come back, they remember your name. Every time you come back, they give you a feeling of being very welcomed.

I think that is certainly the feeling I get when I come here. It's a very blessed, very special place to come. I think it will be a very special venue for the Ryder Cup.

Q. This, of course, is the second Ryder Cup to be staged in Ireland. You both played in the first one at The K Club.

JIM FURYK: You're just going to bring that up, aren't you?

Q. Can you just both first of all give us your memories of that event, one of the biggest and proudest moments in Irish golfing history, and how good do you think this one can be more than 20 years on?

JIM FURYK: Want me to start? Not sure who it was sent to. Yeah, my memory is the fans. Obviously not the result. It was a blowout win by Europe. That's why I was joking.

I remember the weather. I've been here a lot this year, probably 12 to 14 days. I've seen a lot of sunshine, a lot of 80 degrees, not a lot of breeze. I know we need to be ready for anything.

And my memory, going back to The K Club, especially early in the week, the amount of wind, the amount of rain, the difficult conditions to practise in. But I would be remiss. We all have a dear friend, and Darren Clarke was going through an extremely -- my memory of what week and what was so special is Darren was going through such an emotional time. His teammates rallied around him. I think he's got a lot of great friends around the American Team that rallied around him.

But to see the heartwarming support that he got from the fans that week, it almost brings a tear to your eye and that's my special memory of that week because Darren, he's a good friend, and I think someone that's beloved around the world, not only here in Ireland.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I obviously remember it as a great week for Team Europe. It was a very successful week. Every time I've been a part of any sporting event, especially on the golf course, in Ireland, it's always special. The crowd are so attuned to sport, to team sport. They love it. They are very passionate. I think it was a great atmosphere, great energy, a shared respect amongst both teams.

You know, I see Adare hopefully being even better. I think what J.P., Noreen, Sue Ann, all the McManuses have done here is incredible. This is a very much anticipated Ryder Cup for the environment that it's going to create, and I think it's going to create something very special.

Q. Jim has mentioned always trying to evolve and trying to create that team atmosphere. You've done such a good job of it but how do you move it forward now going into your third stint?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I do think that's a challenge and something I certainly thought about when deciding to go for a third time or not. Obviously I've got to note players quite well, and they are expecting something different every time.

But I think the Ryder Cup -- each Ryder Cup, as I said, is quite individual in itself. Each demands different thought processes, different strategies. You're going to have a different course, so the way you attack it is different. You're going to ultimately have some changes amongst the team.

So getting to know new players, new rookies, and then we'll rally around something. We'll come up with the idea that we'll hopefully focus all these guys and get them in a really good frame of mind.

You know, those decisions and thoughts are certainly ongoing. Nothing is in concrete right now. As I said, like Jim said, you're sort of figuring stuff out and the closer you get to the event, you sort of have those concrete ideas. But very excited about the opportunity and the challenge.

Q. How difficult is it as the away captain to, I suppose, you have a bigger job on your hand to create that atmosphere and that environment.

JIM FURYK: Well, I guess you can really kind of -- it's us against the world at this point, or us against Europe. There's going to be 50,000 people making a lot of noise. It's such a great -- the Ryder Cup is such a great atmosphere, such a great arena. But we know what we're up against. We also know that it's been 34 years since we won in Europe. There's no secret. I'm going to hear it over and over again, so I'm going to embrace it.

You know, Luke and Dodo have the opportunity to set the golf course up, trying to tip the scales to Europe. We're the underdogs. I know it's always been played, we come in, the Americans seem to be the favourites.

This year, there's no chance that that could happen. We're the underdogs. We understand that. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. And you know, I'm excited about that process. I'm a process guy and kind of ducks in a row and put these guys in a good position and let our guys go out and show their talent.

It's going to be difficult. The fans here -- Irish fans, Irish sports are amazing but folks are going come in droves from all over Europe to support their favourite countrymen and I need 12 guys -- I've been saying it all week, I need 12 guys that love that atmosphere and love walking into that type of arena because it takes a certain mentality, and those are the guys I'll be looking for.

Q. It's no secret that you sweated over going for a third stint. Does this week just confirm that you made the right decision, and how exciting is it to have a chance to create history in the centenary edition by going for three in a row?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I feel very honored to obviously be the captain in that role with the centenary on the line, as well, and the history behind that.

Yeah, obviously it's something I sat with for a few months to think about the opportunity of maybe going for a third time. But once I decided, then you're all in. I think a big part of the reason was the fact that it was here in Ireland, at Adare. I've known J.P., Noreen, for quite a few years. I've come to many JP McManus Pro-Ams. What they do, what they do for the community, is special. I think having a Ryder Cup in Ireland on the 100th anniversary is going to be incredible.

Q. You had a crack at the captaincy in France, and it was felt that the course setup that week worked against you. Do you think this has more of an American feel, this golf course? Can that work in your favor?

JIM FURYK: I wouldn't say -- I love Le Golf National. I love the golf course. We had some heavy rough, some dog-legs, some pinch points in the fairways. It would have been a great golf course for -- major championship you loved playing The French Open. It would have been a great golf course for our style of play.

I think I was left with a task there with my captain selections to pick some guys that were maybe playing very well at the time that were maybe not favouring the golf course, maybe a little longer, maybe a little bit more crooked style of play versus I had some guys that were hurt, maybe shorter, straighter hitters that were either hurt, injured, or maybe not at the top of their game.

And so I knew what I was getting into. I had played a number of rounds around Le Golf National. I had a pretty good idea of how it was set up for The French Open. I expected the Europeans would kind of stay in that same route because that's what their players were used to.

In hindsight, maybe we didn't have the horses for the course. I love that team. They fought and every captain, like at the end of the day, I would take those 12 into battle again.

But it's a learning experience. It's things that we'll draw upon in the past. I've had an opportunity -- I realise it's not the Ryder Cup but to captain, as well, in 2024. I've been involved, as Luke has, with a number of these events as an assistant or vice captain as well. My thoughts and my thought process has evolved along the way, as well, and in the way I look at our team, our room, the way we pair our players together, the way we come together, the bonding, trying to find those avenues that really bring a team together.

And so I'm enjoying the process and I'm really looking forward to '27.

Q. Foursomes play has been a problem for the United States in team matches, over the last four team matches, I think it's 26-8 overall and 13-3 against Europe. Why is it such a problem for the United States, and what's your cunning plan to turn it around?

JIM FURYK: Your man is spot on, by the way. I know those numbers very, very well. I've lived them the last four.

What's interesting is it's a recent thing for us in the United States. When I started playing the Ryder Cup, we felt and mathematically at teams, had an advantage in the foursomes. At that time we were really struggling in the four-ball. So there's an ebb and a flow. But it's not an anomaly. There's some issues. We understand that. Not something I'm very happy with. I plan on making some changes. I would say, one, as captains, we need to do a better job, not only put the folks into good pairings in good positions but I don't think we are preparing for those matches in a proper way.

And I will promise you, we will be prepared. I'm going to ask this team to do more than any other United States team has in the past. We'll be prepared. We'll be ready to go in that format, and hopefully we can showcase our talent. We have too much depth to have that poor record in alternate-shot.

Q. Luke, there's been a couple of notable victories on The European Tour in recent weeks. How pleased were you to see Shane Lowry scrape over the line at Doonbeg, and Adrian Meronk --

LUKE DONALD: That was a close one.

JIM FURYK: Limped over, right.

LUKE DONALD: What was the last bit?

Q. Adrian, as well. Obviously you had to make that phone call to him a few years ago, but is he going to be part of your plan?

LUKE DONALD: I'll start with Adrian. Great to see him win. Any time anyone wins around the Home of Golf, nice little victory to have on your resumé.

Yeah, he didn't have a great certainty for where he was going to play next year, I know he was talking about whether LIV continues. Obviously this gives him an opportunity to play on the DP World Tour if he wants as many times, and like with any player, if you're playing more times where you're accruing points, you have a much better chance to make that top six and impress me. So good to see him win.

Yeah, obviously, Shane, I think he had some near misses, and I think he was holding on to those a little bit. It was great to get the monkey off the back, I suppose, so to speak and to do it so emphatically and to do it under quite a lot of pressure.

When you play your National Open, you care more. You want to do well more. You want to really impress those crowds, and he did that. To win by 11 shots is incredible. I haven't ever come close to winning a tournament by that many. I don't know what it feels like. I always felt like I had to struggle up the 18th and get it done. But you know, he had a nice lead there.

So great to see him playing well. I know the Ryder Cup is a massive focus for him, especially here playing in Ireland. He'll be doing everything he can to make that team.

Q. Curious, you mentioned some changes, and in thinking about Paris, philosophically speaking, don't need to get into too many details but how do you think about putting pairings together? Do you start with stats and then go to personalities? Do you start with personalities and then go to stats? Just give me an overview of how you think about putting some of these four-ball and alternate-shot pairings together.

JIM FURYK: I think there's a lot that goes into it. You know, you can look at our past. You can look at guys that matched up. I think you start with the golf course, personally. What are you trying to accomplish? What is that course asking of the player?

I think you can look at it from a personality standpoint. Statistically speaking, I think we both use the analytics. It's a great tool. But it needs to be used properly and applied properly.

But I think it's a little of both. I'm going to start with the golf course with you right off the bat: What's it asking for, in both formats, whether it's four-ball or foursomes, and then you start planning accordingly in that case.

There's a lot of different things you can do, and I like your philosophically speaking. I like to surround myself, my style of leadership in that case is surrounding myself with the best folks. I love and I have a lot of trust in our analytics right now. I love and I have a lot of trust in both Justin Leonard and Stewart Cink, and I've got a good team around me right now that we'll continue to build on. I'll gather information from all them and then make those difficult decisions with how we're going to pair folks.

Q. Luke, I just wanted to get your reaction to Brandt Snedeker, the Presidents Cup captain saying that this U.S. Team was going to be a real problem right after -- right after the victory.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, hey, Adam. I kind of tend to agree. I have zero complacency about how strong the U.S. are going to be. They always are. On paper, they tend to be stronger than us through the World Rankings.

Obviously we have a great record at home but again, zero complacency. You know, I've seen what Jim has been doing behind the scenes, changing the stats, changing the qualification system. He is very, very motivated to come here and put up a good fight.

Certainly I'm just as motivated to sort of keep finding those edges for my team as well. But you know, I know that the U.S. will be very strong.

Q. Yet Jim just claimed to being the underdog. How can you be both of those things?

LUKE DONALD: Me?

Q. Yeah.

LUKE DONALD: For us, underdog is a mentality. We always want to prove something to ourselves, to the rest of the world. Yeah, we understand that being at home is an advantage but we also know that the U.S. are very strong.

Q. A question for the pair of you. At the last Ryder Cup, we saw a sort of crowd behaviour, fan behaviour, reach sort of a pretty poor level. Is that an issue either of you are worried about heading into Adare Manor at all?

JIM FURYK: I think that we have to acknowledge that absolutely at Bethpage, the fan behaviour was over the top. I think it's something that we need to reiterate and keep talking about; that the PGA of America has taken the steps for the future for that not to happen again.

What I expect here is a great European crowd. I think we admire how well organised they are, how they use the chants from soccer to make even more noise in unison, and I expect that they will be cheering and supporting their team like they always have.

So it's always been a great crowd. I look forward to it to be honest with you. I loved coming on the road. I loved playing in Europe. I loved just stepping into that arena. It gets your heart pumping, and it gives you that chip on your shoulder and a mentality that I think our players need.

LUKE DONALD: For me, it's certainly my responsibility as the home captain to play this Ryder Cup in the right spirit, and that's what, certainly, in conjunction with Jim and their team, we'll want to do. We want the best team to win on the golf course.

You know, everything I've seen, all the previous examples of playing here in Ireland, that has been the case, and so I expect that to happen next year again at Adare.

Q. Just on a similar theme, Jim and Luke, we also saw more bad behaviour at the Presidents Cup, very regrettable. Is there a danger now that unless things change, we're going to do a lot of damage to the image of the game, and that this one has to be totally trouble-free?

LUKE DONALD: Again, you know, I can only control what I can control. Again, I feel very confident that this one will be played in a great spirit.

And again, I feel responsibility to that, and it's something that's important to me. I feel like having those strong values and acting in the right way is important, and I'll certainly be getting that over to my players and to the fans. I expect, you know, again, a very enjoyable but fiercely contested Ryder Cup.

JIM FURYK: I agree with all those terms. I definitely would not compare the crowd at Medinah to the crowd at Bethpage one bit.

What happened in Scottie's match was regrettable, and I think what an unbelievable act of sportsmanship to give that putt, halve the hole, move on. He made it a statement that it was alarming to him, as well, and nothing that we want to see.

You know, surely that wasn't the only act at Medinah, but I really felt like the crowd at Medinah, it was incomparable to Bethpage, and something we're working towards the future.

Yeah, we want the play to shine. We want these players to be the superstars, and we want the teams to have the opportunity to go out there and shine and have the best team come forth.

Q. Just to follow up, on a different theme, you mentioned you want your guys to do something different in foursomes. Scottie is going to be central to that. Are you going to get him practise with 12 different guys?

JIM FURYK: I didn't catch that.

Q. On Scottie's foursomes record, you said you'll try and change the foursomes scenario. Do you see Scottie practising foursomes play with a lot of different guys?

JIM FURYK: I'm not necessarily sure about a lot of different guys but yeah, we have to have options. We need to move forward and we need to practise it a lot more. I look forward to bringing some folks here to Adare Manor next summer and getting a chance to see the golf course and definitely working on that format is at the forefront for me.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Just when you were coping with the Irish accent, we threw a Welsh one at you.

JIM FURYK: (A ^ quizzically at Luke.)

LUKE DONALD: He threw a Welsh accent at you.

JIM FURYK: I gotcha. I'm a little older than Luke. Maybe I don't quite hear quite as well.

SCOTT CROCKETT: You're getting there.

Q. In terms of psychology, how do you approach dealing with a player who may not be playing to his potential without actually damaging his confidence?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I think one of the hardest parts about being a captain is you are in control of people's feelings. And you have to make tough decisions. There's a lot of players, when you bring 12 players to a Ryder Cup Team, they want to play as much as possible. They want to contribute. They want to be a part of it.

And ultimately, sometimes that doesn't happen and you have to have those difficult decisions and sit these people down. You know, they don't play a session or they don't play a whole day, and it's heartbreaking for me, and it's even worse for them.

I think all these guys, when they are part of a team, they understand that every decision the captain makes, their vice captains, all the people behind them, are in the best for the team.

I think every time I've had to make those tough decisions, the players have taken them really well, and I think that just shows how good character they are, how strong they are, and you know, you get them ready for when they are going to go out and ultimately go play.

JIM FURYK: I think one by one, and Luke probably hears the same thing in the locker room, our players look at us as captains and say, "I'll do whatever it takes to win." It's a team mentality first. Those decisions are difficult. I've had to make them in the past, as well.

One, notably, at the Presidents Cup, where I had a young player play on both Thursday and Friday, and then did not play one of the two matches on Saturday, and that was a conversation we had in the morning. He was just a champ. I mean, big smile on his face. "I'm going to go get ready for singles, Cap. I'm going to go cheer on my teammates this afternoon, and I'll be ready tomorrow." And he was. He played a great singles match and he moved forward.

It's difficult. You're sitting four of the best players in the world in every session in team play. I think they all realise it is a team and they are going to have a role, get out there, tear your role seriously and get out there and do the best you can with it and do what you can for your team.

Q. I'm going to sneak in one other question. Have you picked up any Irish words or any terms or phrases that we have here in Ireland? Did Jim understand me?

JIM FURYK: I did, but I can't repeat the one that I learned this week. (Laughter).

LUKE DONALD: A couple that I'm thinking that might be relevant to our team, but yeah, I'm not going to go into that right now.

Q. I met you both yesterday at Rathbane Golf Club, and you were giving advice to the young players about picking up golf, and as well as the technical side of things. You said enjoy the sport, have fun. And it reminded me of Cian Lynch who is captain of the Limerick hurling team, and he says he's playing his best hurling when he's enjoying it and having fun. Golf is such a psychological sport. Do you take on board that advice yourselves? Do you play your best when you are enjoying and having fun?

LUKE DONALD: You try.

JIM FURYK: I will say that I've had a number of times in my career where I felt like I played too many events, where I got worn down, and you start to realise that you're treating it like a job rather than enjoying yourself. I think the more we can play free, play like we did when we were kids, the more fun we're going to have, the better we're going to play.

But yeah, I think the message for the children yesterday was really, you can play this game forever. It's going to teach you a lot of lessons about yourself. It's going to teach you a lot of lessons about life and you can carry those forward. Whether you become a golf professional or not, this game has so much to offer and it's given us so much.

So being able to give back and spend some time with the kids yesterday was really a lot of fun.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, the same. Obviously I think having fun at whatever you do is a competitive advantage. When you count your blessings more than you count the things that aren't going your way, life tends to figure itself out.

It's certainly something that we talk about on our team. These are great opportunities to go out there and represent your team, your continent, your country, and you know, you've got to enjoy these weeks. You've got to have the most fun, as well. I think that's a good message for these kids, and it was good to see so many smiles from all kinds of different age groups and different abilities yesterday. It was fun to see.

Q. Next year is not just the 100-year anniversary of the first Ryder Cup Match, and it's also 50 years since Jack Nicklaus took Lord Derby aside and started progress of GB&I and becoming Europe. In a fun sense, do you think Americans ever regret that little chat? But more seriously, is there also a sense that a tight contest is better than what came before?

JIM FURYK: No, I don't think anyone would regret what the Ryder Cup has become. I think that you look into the '60s and '70s, we weren't having these press conferences. We weren't talking about the grand nature of this event and how it might be the biggest and the best, the greatest event in all of golf.

No, I think Team Europe has done a great job of organising it and becoming a powerful force in this event. It's only elevated the stature. It's time for us to evolve and fight back.

Q. When you peer back to the period of Ryder Cup before it became Europe, what do you do when you as a team get together and discuss what those guys created on the GB, Ireland, and Europe side for the legacy of it now?

LUKE DONALD: We try to focus a little bit more when Europe joined because that's when we started to do a little bit better.

But I think it was a natural progression. You know, I think obviously it happened for a reason. We weren't that competitive against the U.S., and we need the might of Europe to join forces with GB&I to kind of even things up a little bit.

So I think competition is competition because the matches become close. You know, that makes it more enjoyable, more engaging for the fans, and you know, that uncertainty of who is going to win becomes kind of exciting.

So I think it was something that needed to be done.

JIM FURYK: I didn't misunderstand the question, right? We were talking about adding Europe in my question, or no? Did I misunderstand?

Q. No. You were spot on, I think.

JIM FURYK: Okay. Thanks.

Q. Adare Manor is a course that not a lot of fans have seen in competition before. Wondering if you can give us a bit of an introduction to the course and maybe, specifically, the recent changes. I know you talked before about maybe adding some rough and narrowing some fairways, if you can talk about how they have bedded in so far?

LUKE DONALD: Really we haven't made any changes so far. Those are options that we have as the home team to potentially narrow fairways, grow a little bit of rough. You know, what the green speeds will be that week. That's really it. They are not big structural changes or adding bunkers or taking trees out or anything like that or changing greens.

This is a course that is already spectacular. It's going to be a great test. I think in match play, it's more about finding the right players to complement the golf course.

So it's a beautiful golf course. You know, a lot of raised greens. Lots of shaved off areas. A lot of balls. If you're a little bit off, can run 40, 50 yards away from the hole. It's going to take -- the pin locations will be, obviously, interesting, I think. We don't get to set those up. Those are determined by the people who run the event.

I think the greens have some slope, some interesting hole location possibilities, and it's a great finish to the course. There's a short-ish par 4, a really amazing par 3 with water in front, a very long par 4, 17, and then 18 is a risk/reward, potentially go-for-it par 5, with water in front of it. It's spectacular, and it's going to be a great amphitheatre for this Ryder Cup.

Q. Continuity obviously played a big part in the success in both the captaincy and team selection. You said a bit earlier that players arrive at the event expecting something slightly different. So how much can you deviate from the plans you've had, and for example, how much did you change from Rome to Bethpage?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I think the messaging was completely different. I think the way you pick those six picks is different, depending on a home Ryder Cup and an away Ryder Cup.

We certainly knew New York was going to be tough in terms of the environment, and we wanted a lot of our picks to have experience, people who had been in the hunt for major championships that had a bit more experience. We were a little worried to pick someone, a rookie that hadn't played much in the U.S., and it's unfortunate that some of those guys missed out.

Again, I think decisions for this one will change. We'll have to see how that shapes out. Again, we'll get a good idea of what this course demands and whether some of those players that are on the fringe of playing well will have those abilities that might suit Adare Manor.

So again, time will tell with that one.

Q. Earlier, you said you were going to ask this team to do more than any other U.S. Team had done in the past. What does that look like in practise to you?

JIM FURYK: I guess in short, I would say from a preparation, to absolutely be here at Adare Manor next summer would be first and foremost.

But I think a lot of it is in preparation. It's in the lead up. It's the veteran players taking the younger players under their wing. It's looking at this not a group of 12, but a Team USA, a larger group, a programme that we can build for the future and leaning on some veterans to lead the way.

We've got a number of really talented, young American players that are going to give them a run for a spot on this team. So it's exciting for me as a captain and I'm looking forward to that process.

Q. Question for you about 2018 and the relevancy from that experience to next year, what lessons do you take from that, or has too much changed since then and you're more focusing on the last few years leading into next year?

JIM FURYK: I think a lot has changed. But you know, I've been involved with a number of teams since then. So I think you're drawing from experiences each and every time. Everyone is a learning experience. As Luke said, everyone changes. It's different players. It's different captains.

There's some different ideas coming into the room. You try to, I did lean on the continuity that some of the captains before me have provided, and we have passed those traditions down and those ideas down.

Davis Love and Steve Stricker come to mind immediately, both dear friends and very successful captains.

Yeah, I think I'll draw from each and every one of those experiences, and I think I have a lot more -- just been involved with a lot more teams from this side of it. I've played on a lot of these teams but I think being a captain is a totally different outlook. I was a little inexperienced in 2018, and now I've had an opportunity to do this a number of times. So it's a big help.

Q. When you come to your wildcards, people who have shown up and you come to Adare Manor with you for your visit beforehand, will they be in a better position than those who didn't decide to go over?

LUKE DONALD: Was that for me?

JIM FURYK: Who was that directed at?

Q. Sorry, that's for Jim.

JIM FURYK: Oh, okay. I thought you were worried about Rory not being here (laughter).

The ask is going to be there. We have guys coming over for both the Scottish and The Open Championship. The ask will be out there and I expect everyone to make their best effort to be here. Things come up. Family obligations, whatever it may be.

But I do expect a lot of folks to be here and onsite, and I'm looking forward to it. I want them to see the golf course. We had a pretty good turnout back in '18, as well, for Le Golf National in the summer. But I'm looking for a bigger outturn this time.

Q. Patrick Reed is obviously going to be back on the PGA Tour. He obviously had an interesting 2018 Ryder Cup and said some things afterwards. Are you going to allow bygones to be bygones and talk to him?

JIM FURYK: We are going to put the best 12 guys, the best team of 12 on this team; if Patrick Reed is one of those, that's great. It's been a long time since he's been in our team room. I'm going to say, the last -- maybe '21 was the last time I think he played on, either Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.

Yeah, you know, Patrick and I will have that conversation, and I'm looking forward to welcoming our best team of 12.

Q. For both captains, after Bethpage and after Medinah the focus -- a lot of the focus was on the pairs matches, and for good reason. But I just thought it was interesting that at Bethpage, the U.S. tied the most lopsided singles session ever, either Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, and then of course at Medinah they beat that. So I guess for Jim, I guess the question is a little bit about the silver lining but what sort of faith or confidence does that give the team, even though they have struggled? And Luke, from your perspective at Bethpage and seeing what happened at Medinah just your thoughts on what has been kind of a real hot streak, at least in this one format, from the Americans?

JIM FURYK: Shane, I don't know if I would call it a silver lining by any stretch of the imagination. I think it's shown the heart, the grit, the belief that these guys have in themselves and the fight that they showed on Sunday.

But I think there's also -- you have to look to the first four sessions in both events and realise, seven points down at Bethpage, you're digging too deep of a hole. I don't care how well you play on Sunday; three points down here at Medinah.

And again we'll go back to the glaring weaknesses, really, mostly in alternate-shot. We did get beat in four-ball at Bethpage. But recently, the last four years, it's been alternate-shot. That's our focus.

But the team play, we need to do a better job. We need to get ourselves into Sunday in a lot better position, and that will be the focus, obviously, team golf.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I think it's obviously no secret that we've done very well in the foursomes. It's been a big part of the success the last two Ryder Cups and hopefully that continues. But I would be naïve to think that we would be able to have the same success, keep going forward. I think any time you have that success, it's great.

But every time you don't have that success, you're learning, as well. You can tell from the way Jim is talking and what preparations they are doing, they are very focused, and we know we'll have our work cut out.

But I'm also focused on that I don't particularly want to feel like I did on Sunday at Bethpage. You know, that was tough to experience the U.S. coming back so strong. It just shows how much grit, resilience this team will have.

And it's certainly something I'm thinking about, how do we get these guys not only prepared as best for foursomes but all sessions, and that includes the singles. There's 12 points in the singles. There's a lot of points. So you'd better have some focus on that, as well.

Q. I feel like it would be remiss while you're in Ireland not to ask you about Rory McIlroy. I know he's been such an important part of Team Europe over the last number of years, but how much more does he bring since becoming a back-to-back Masters Champion to the team and to the whole environment?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, you know, Rory's journey in the Ryder Cup has been a great one. We all remember what he said. In his very first one, he thought it was going to be a bit of an exhibition. And he played his first Ryder Cup and found that that was far from the case, and it was the most enjoyable, the most fun event that he's ever been a part of.

He's changed as a person as he's grown into his role and what he's achieved in the game. Every time he achieved something, he feels like he has more responsibility as a leader, and he loves the Ryder Cup with a passion. He loves competing it in it. He loves being a teammate and speaking up when he feels he can help.

I think he does a great job of that, and I'm very lucky to have him on my team.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Okay, ladies and gentlemen, that brings to an end today's press conference. Thank you very much to everybody for your attendance and your participation.

But a special thanks to you, Jim, and to you, Luke. We wish you all the very best over the next 12 months as your respective teams take shape, and of course, we look forward to seeing you back here next September for the 46th Ryder Cup. Thank you all and good afternoon.