Jim Furyk on full blast over his six captain's picks in US Presidents Cup team

Jim Furyk's decision was never going to be an easy one, but his six captain's picks in the 2024 United States Presidents Cup team have been met with strong criticism by PGA Tour fans on social media.

Furyk, 54, played things remarkably safe by opting to pick all six players ranked seventh to 12th on the US Presidents Cup team standings. 

The 2003 US Open champion chose Sam Burns (seventh), Tony Finau (eighth), Russell Henley (ninth), Keegan Bradley (10th), Brian Harman (11th) and Max Homa (12th).

Related: Presidents Cup teams in full

The decision to pick Bradley, who was initially one of his assistant captains, was seemingly a simple one after the American won his second BMW Championship a couple of weeks back. 

Furyk has now decided to remove Bradley as one of his assistants now that he is one of his players in the team and a replacement will soon be confirmed. 

Related: Furyk leaves door open for Woods involvement at Presidents Cup

Furyk's six picks now join his six automatics Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala.
 

But back to the top of the story, and Furyk's picks have not sat well with everyone.

A large number of PGA Tour fans cannot believe the originality behind Furyk's decision to just go with those 7-12 on the list. 

While a number of captains have decided to do that in the past, it would appear many consider Justin Thomas, who was ranked down in 19th, should have been handed a place in the team.

Those in favour of picking Thomas believe he played well enough to throw his hat into the ring at the Tour Championship last week, where he would have finished seventh in the 30-man field if everyone started at level par. 

Another tick in Thomas' box, at least in the eyes of PGA Tour fans, is that he is widely considered one of the best matchplay golfers of his generation.

A number of other fans consider Akshay Bhatia should have been handed a Presidents Cup debut, especially having won twice on the PGA Tour since July 2023. 

Of all six captain's picks, the inclusion of an out-of-form Homa shocked most fans.

Homa has not registered a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since the middle of May. 

Other fans consider former Open champion Harman can count himself lucky too. 

Harman's last top 10 came in June. 

Scroll below to see how a number of golf fans have reacted to Furyk's picks...

Here's a look at some comments: 

'Justin Thomas over Max. Akshay over Harman. This team is gonna lose.'

'If you were p***** Justin Thomas made the Ryder Cup team last year, you should be incensed Max Homa just made the Presidents Cup team. Since May: T35 MC T22 (limited field) MC T61 T70 T43 70 T33 (limited field)'.

'Jim Furyk followed the points, selecting players 7-12. Hard to have a huge issue with the picks, but biggest second-guess would be leaving Justin Thomas (No. 17) off. Nine top 25s for him this season and a great history at the event.'

'Absolute joke no Bhatia, bad call Furyk.'

'Brian Harman being on this team is an absolute joke. I love Max but he’s played golf like a 20 handicap the last three months. Not a good look for ole Jim.'

'Jim was a joke of a captain in 2018 and it looks like he's heading the same way in 2024.'

'Justin Thomas has been absolutely snubbed from the Presidents Cup team.'

'How ON EARTH is Justin Thomas not picked over Brian Harman and Max Homa… ESPECIALLY after Waggle Monster didn’t even qualify for The Tour Championship??'

'Wow. Justin Thomas left off the American team for the Presidents Cup.'

'Shocking call on Harman, yes he won The Open last year but the guy hasn't had a top 10 since June.' 

'Leaving off Akshay Bhatia is tough, considering he’ll be part of future teams.'

'Max Homa over Justin Thomas is certainly a choice, wow."

Thomas will certainly be gutted to miss out on the US Presidents Cup team.

He hasn’t missed a national team event since the 2016 Ryder Cup.

After the Tour Championship on Sunday night, Thomas said: "I really hope I get a chance at the Presidents Cup."

He added: "I would hope that Jim knows I don't need to explain how much I want to be on that team and how much I would love to, but it's the same as last year; if the captains and the players on the team want me on the team, then I'm happy to be there, and whatever they need to do to assemble the best team possible, whether I'm on it or not, then that's what it is."

Former FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel has already revealed his disappointment at missing out on the 2024 US Presidents Cup team. 

"It hurts," Horschel told Golf Channel's Matt Adams. 

International captain Mike Weir was also criticised for his picks by fans on social media. 

The United States are looking to win the Presidents Cup for a 10th consecutive year.

Should USA win again, it will mark a 13th time they have lifted the trophy since the Presidents Cup was founded in 1994.

The Internationals won in 1998 and they also tied the match in 2003.

Presidents Cup Past Results