Jim Furyk has lauded Chris Gotterup for going out of his way to play practice rounds with the stalwarts of the American team in the months leading up to his Presidents Cup debut.
Gotterup proved to be one of the finds of the week for Team USA at Medinah. Although he lost on the opening day and did not play on Friday, he bounced back by winning three points over the weekend.
No American player ended the week with more points than the 27-year-old.
Unless he sustains an injury, you would expect to see Gotterup put himself on the Ryder Cup team that travels to Adare Manor next year, particularly as he formed such an impressive partnership with Cameron Young.
It was a great week for the rookies. Jackson Koivun proved that he is a superstar in the making by being the only player on either side to end the week unbeaten. Meanwhile, it fell to Jacob Bridgeman to earn the point that confirmed the American team's victory.
And Jim Furyk has encouraged those hoping to make the trip to Ireland in 11 months to put themselves on the radar by reaching out to the more experienced members of the team.
Speaking on 5 Clubs , Furyk explained just how excited he is about the players knocking on the door.
"I think there's always going to be some folks who step up. I'll say this, we do have some great veterans and some folks who have been in those team rooms a number of times. I could rip off six names off the top of my hat that have played in the last, say four cups. But we have a lot of really good, young talent out there, guys that are coming out of college. You look at what Jackson Koivun did this year at the Presidents Cup, there's another five guys right behind him who have not been on one of these teams that I have an eye on, and I think two or three of them could easily make this team," he said.
"My eyes are wide open. I think the fact that I'm out there quite often, I'm doing some television work for Golf Channel, I'm on tour more often, I see these guys, I'll have dinner with them, not only the veterans but some of these guys that haven't made a team yet. I want to get to know them, and learn what makes them tick, learn more about them, get them into our team room more often, get them with our veterans more often, playing practice rounds. If you don't know Scottie Scheffler, Sammy Burns, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, if you don't know these guys, go ask them for a practice round.
"Go hang out with them. A guy that I saw do that all year is Chris Gotterup . I went to the PGA Championship, went to see X and PC play a practice round and they've got CG with them. I thought it was awesome. They live in Jupiter in a similar area, they practice together all the time. I think that made Chris' transition into a team room much easier and we want that for our young players for sure."
American fans will be hoping to see plenty of changes from previous years over the coming months. For far too long, Team USA has been complacent going into away Ryder Cups when they really have little right to be.
The Europeans have shown them up with the level of detail they go into, including having potential candidates to make the Ryder Cup team going out together at certain tournaments.
It is clear that Luke Donald has had a say about certain players being grouped together at events as he looks to keep that cohesion that has made the European team such a force over the years.
And when asked about that, Furyk insisted that he plans to take a similar approach.
"We have that ability. I think we could utilise it more, and I plan to, but we do have that ability with the PGA Tour," he said.
There definitely needs to be greater chemistry between those on Team USA if they are going to build something that can rival the European machine.
Of course, much has been made of the fact that 1993 was the last time the Americans won across the Atlantic, but obviously, you would also have to go back to that year for the most recent occasion Team USA won back-to-back Ryder Cups.
The penny appears to have dropped with Furyk that the American team can no longer simply focus on the decisions that may boost their chances of winning the next time.
