Jim Furyk: No issues with Tiger Woods’ back

By Carl Markham

United States Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk has dismissed suggestions Tiger Woods is suffering with a back problem.

The 14-time major winner, playing alongside Patrick Reed, was beaten 3&1 by Europe’s top-performing Friday pair of Francesco Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood and did not feature in the afternoon foursomes.

It was only the second time Woods has not played a Ryder Cup session as a team member; he missed the 2014 and 2016 teams as he recovered from back surgeries. He is now battling back from his fourth operation, a spinal fusion procedure in 2017.

That led to plenty of speculation the 42-year-old, who has made a remarkable comeback to form following that surgery, was being troubled by an old complaint, but Furyk, who has put Woods out with Reed in today’s fourballs — again against Molinari and Fleetwood — rejected those claims.

“I have not heard that he has had a back problem, so I would say that is not true. You’d have to ask Tiger,” he said.

“I saw him out on the golf course and he was all good.

“Every time Tiger doesn’t play or stretches a bit it gets hyper-sensitive, he may have a back issue, but I didn’t get any information from Tiger or my vice-captains.”

Woods himself did not speak about his fitness after his round, but stressed he was ready to play again when he was selected.

“I’ll be ready come tomorrow whenever the captain puts me out,” he said immediately after his round and before the pairings had been announced.

“I’m not going to work on anything. My game is fine. I was hammering it, the ball was going far, it was going straight, but it was not cutting.”

“I can accept that, that’s really no big deal. My putting feels solid.”

On their struggles against the European duo, the former world number one added: “We couldn’t answer them. Once they started rattling off birdies, they were playing perfect best-ball.

“It’s disappointing and frustrating for Pat and I to not contribute to the team.

“When you lose a point, you feel like you’ve contributed, but you’re contributing to the wrong team.”