No powder puffs in Europe for Furyk

Ten million dollar man Jim Furyk is not expecting any charity at Celtic Manor - especially from Padraig Harrington.

The American veteran pocketed the massive €7.3m FedEx Cup bonus last week. But he doesn’t expect Europe to be as generous at the US Tour when he tees it up in his seventh Ryder Cup today.

Furyk said: “You are not going to get any powder puffs in the Ryder Cup. You’re looking at the 12 best from Europe and the 12 best from the United States.

“It’s going to be fierce and Paddy Harrington is the kind of guy that embodies that. He’s really tough competitor and he’s not going to be an easy guy to beat.”

European skipper Colin Montgomerie has been lashed for picking Harrington ahead of Justin Rose or Paul Casey. And while Furyk understands that, he believes the Scot can only be judged by the result on Sunday night.

He said: “Paddy has been one of the more dominant European players for quite a few years. Okay, this wasn’t his best year but it wasn’t Tiger’s best year either and they are obviously very solid picks.

“Usually the captain that wins ends up being a hero and the captain that loses ends up being a goat, even though it might no be representative of the job they have done.”

Furyk knows that the US faces a tough task to win the trophy on European soil for the first time since 1993.

And he doesn’t think the task has been made any easier when Monty can count on rookies like US Tour winner Rory McIlroy.

Furyk said: “The Ryder Cup is a special deal but Rory is very mature for 21. He’s in the top 10 in the world, he’s been around the block and he’s won on both sides of the pond.

“He’s a guy that everyone expects to contend in a major championship so at that point, you kind of ignore the fact that he’s a rookie.

“I think he’s got a lot more experience than most guys playing in the Ryder Cup for the first time.