American golfer gives honest take on Jim Furyk’s Presidents Cup captaincy
Kevin Kisner seems happy with Jim Furyk’s Presidents Cup captaincy. The American golfer, who stole the team’s event-winning celebrations with his antics, revealed that he was surprised by how much the new skipper put into the event.
Assistant captain Kisner was speaking with Smylie Kaufman on The Smylie Show’s latest episode when he gave his honest take on Jim Furyk’s Presidents Cup captaincy. The four-time PGA Tour winner said that the veteran skipper first called him regarding duty during the Canadian Open, in May end. He admitted to being ‘shocked’ by the hours they spent on the process of building the squad.
Furthermore, Kisner said that Furyk anticipated and informed them of the various scenarios set to go down at the Presidents Cup, two weeks in advance.
Speaking about Jim Furyk as Captain, Kevin Kisner said (at 25:11):
“When I first got the phone call from Jim, I was in the Canadian open and I said ‘hell I never dreamed we would put as much time and effort and work into it that we did.’ Not that I didn't want to, I was just shocked at how many hours we spent on the process…
"I was blown away how prepared Jim was from every step of the way, obviously he’s had tons of experience in captaincy either as the head guy or assistant. But he like basically told us exactly what was going to happen from the get-go two weeks in advance.”
Kisner went on to state that Furyk remained calm and in control during Day 2’s 5-0 hammering of the side.
He added:
“I’d give him a ton of credit because we walked in that room on Friday after getting hammered 5-0 and he’s like we ‘we’re not going to panic, we’ve got a game plan, we’re sticking to the game plan’... I just love the way he was a captain and the guys really loved him they really jumped on it… I thought it was really cool experience.”
Kisner also revealed that Furyk depended heavily on the scouts and made full use of their skillset. He reiterated that the whole team, including the players, loved Jim’s captaincy.
Kevin Kisner took his shirt off at the Presidents Cup to keep a promise
The general vibe of the US Presidents Cup team seemed positive. The Jim Furyk-led side, despite their 5-0 trashing on Friday, seemed happy with their overall performance. Interestingly, the players and assistant captains’ antics added to the fun. Max Homa’s long-forgotten bet with Kevin Kisner was one such moment.
For the unversed, LPGA stars Alison Lee and Megan Khang’s caddies Jack Fulghum and Taylor ‘Shota’ Takada placed a bet during the Solheim Cup. The two bagmen decided that they would take their shirts off if one of their players holed out, and it happened just two holes later. The incident inspired Homa, who was watching from home.
The PGA Tour posted it on social media and Kisner took the bait. He promised to do it if the former holed out at the Presidents Cup. Interestingly, Homa did hole out on the first hole of his singles match against Mackenzie Hughes on Sunday. Kisner kept his word and followed through on his end of the bet once the celebration began.
While the move showcased the positive environment in the team, it also received some flak for lack of discipline from the assistant captain representing the US side at an international event.