Thomas rejects Reed claim in Ryder Cup row

KUALA LUMPUR: Former world number one Justin Thomas gave his backing to Jim Furyk on Wednesday after the USA Ryder Cup captain was accused over his pairings in their heavy defeat to Europe.

Thomas supported Furyk’s assertion that the pairings were decided well in advance, after Masters champion Patrick Reed said he was “blindsided” by being grouped with Tiger Woods rather than Jordan Spieth. Reed’s comments were chief amongst the recriminations in the US camp after their 17.5 to 10.5 loss at Le Golf National, along with Phil Mickelson’s complaint that the rough at the French course was too unforgiving. Reed told the New York Times that “the issue is obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me”, a comment which Furyk rejected when he said the pairings were decided weeks before and made known to the team.

And Thomas told reporters at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia: “That (the pairing) was something obviously that had been talked about in advance, but all I was worried about was that I knew I was going to play with Jordan and we wanted to take care of our match. “So, you do your job, and Jordan’s and mine was to go out and get a point and that’s what we were fortunate enough to get at least three out of four.