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The 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black is set to be a high-stakes showdown where every shot matters. Known for its punishing layout, recovery play will be crucial. With Team USA’s short game historically shaky, Justin Thomas turned to Jim Furyk for chipping lessons ahead of the tournament.

Justin Thomas is known to be aggressive in his shot-making and has an impressive impact on the board in general, but his short-game results have been very inconsistent. Thomas’s Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green ranking plummeted from 12th in 2021 (.294) to 139th in 2023 (.002).

In a course like Bethpage Black with such tight fairways and rough, and high greens, this loss is high. Enter Furyk, whose career scrambling percentage of 63.22% and 14 seasons ranked in the top 25 in scrambling, provide exactly the kind of expertise Thomas needs to bring back his composure around the greens.

Bethpage black is, in itself is a fort for technical excellence and strategic brilliance. The Black Course has an average of about 26 yards on the fairways. The penal rough and raised high greens punish small mistakes, and competitors have to spend strokes trying to recover.

Moreover, past Ryder Cup tournaments remind us of the absolute importance of short-game execution. During Europe’s 2023 victory, superior scrambling proved decisive, particularly in Saturday foursomes, where crucial up-and-downs shifted momentum dramatically. Under these conditions, every chip, pitch, and recovery is counted, which makes the guidance of Furyk invaluable for Justin Thomas.

The partnership also brings a psychological advantage to Team USA. The Ryder Cup is as much about controlling the pressure and how well you can bring out your technique under this pressure. Under Furyk’s guidance, Thomas gets accustomed to a more refined playing style, and he can have the confidence of having a proven strategist in his corner. That is as good as the stroke gained in the tournament, where one hole can change the fate of a session.

Beyond individual preparation, the collaboration could be in the context of a broader team strategy. Increasing the short game of Thomas is not only enhancing his scoring but also making him a more reliable player in the team format, where he can support aggressive partners in foursomes and maintain pressure in fourball and in singles.

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How Short Games Have Shaped Ryder Cup Outcomes

Victories in the Ryder Cup are by scrambling, chipping, and putting rather than hitting power distance. Team Europe’s fantastic recovery in the 2012 Miracle at Medinah was possible due to clutch sand saves and final, panic-inducing up-and-downs. In the 1999 comeback at Brookline, Team America saved matches with chips at every hole. Even in recent competitions, the effect can be seen; those who convert awkward positions to green show us that matches would be decided by short-game excellence.

Bethpage Black does intensify these dynamics. Its design punishes errors. Throughout the course, narrow lanes and excessively rough areas, and raised greens cause those who miss the green to play a shot with high risk and difficulty. With Thomas, learning the technique of landing the ball on target and rolling it might become the crucial upside to convert half holes, even a match win, to a close event.

The scrambling ability of players can be the determining factor for success in foursomes. In 2023, 68% of the matches were won by 2&1 or less. If Thomas can increase his around-the-green play by 10 percent, he can easily gain 2-3 halves, which can be the winning factor Team USA needs.

As Bethpage Black awaits, this focused training on chipping and the short game from Furyk may be the difference maker that separates victory from defeat for Team USA, proving that sometimes the most significant advantages are found not in driving distance, but in the delicate art of the scramble.