Furyk Misses Out on Presidents Cup Wildcard

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United States captain Fred Couples has admitted that he found it extremely difficult to leave Jim Furyk out of his Presidents Cup side.

The 43-year-old is currently at 15 in the world rankings and has been part of every US Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team since 1997.

However, Couples has upset the Unibet odds by naming rookie Jordan Spieth and ex-US Open champion Webb Simpson as his wildcards for next month's competition.

The 20-year-old Spieth, who won the John Deere Classic in July, tweeted: "Can't even describe what it means to represent USA.”

Couples said of Furyk’s omission: "I told him that he wasn't on the team through a text and would talk to him later, because I just couldn't handle it, to be honest."

On his decision to include Spieth in his side, Couples added: "To pick Jordan was the right move as he’s having an incredible year. He’s one of our top players, even though he’s only 20. I'm excited to have a young kid on the team.”
Furyk was 13th on the qualifying list after finishing in the top ten on six occasions this year and was runner-up to Jason Dufner at the recent US PGA Championship.

Simpson was only pipped to the tenth automatic place on this year's team when Zach Johnson holed a birdie putt to take a share of 29th place in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

Simpson has recorded three top-ten finishes in strokeplay events this year.

International captain Nick Price chose Australian Marc Leishman and Zimbabwe's Brendon de Jonge as his wildcards for the Ryder Cup-style event which is scheduled to take place in Ohio between 3rd and 6th October.
The International team, which is made up of the rest of the world minus Europe, have won only one of the nine President Cup events since it was first played in 1994.

Photo Credit: TourProGolfClubs.com