Furyk relishing heat of battle in Cup cauldron

HE may be on the visiting team but USA veteran Jim Furyk is relishing the opportunity to tee it up in the cauldron of Ryder Cup competition at Celtic Manor on Friday.

Fresh from a one-stroke victory over Luke Donald in the Tour Championship at East Lake,Atlanta, last Sunday that netted him a total of $11.35 million for the first place and Fedex Cup series success, most people would be pretty happy with any scenario.

Still, a first shot in a Ryder Cup is a nervous affair and with a large horseshoe-shaped grandstand having been erected around the first tee box on the Twenty Ten course and sure to be filled predominantly with raucous European fans, it is certainly not one of the more obvious pleasures in life for an opposing team member.