It seems the United States prefer their Ryder Cup captains like their presidents: Reassuringly familiar, even if they come with a less than perfect track record.
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– Graeme McDowell & Lee Westwood set the Malaysian Open pace
As the country slowly (but seemingly inexorably) builds towards a Clinton vs. Bush election battle later next year, on Tuesday reports emerged that the US had appointed former Ryder Cup captain David Love III as their next Ryder Cup captain.
Confirmation, expected next week, seems all but a formality.
Love III (known as a player as ‘Trip’ – his son Love IV being now known as ‘Quad’, his dad presumably known in his time as ‘Deuce’) famously lost his debut captaincy foray at Medinah in 2012, a shellshocked victim of Ian Poulter’s Churchillian act of motivation and then a Sunday comeback for the ages.
Breaking; Davis Love III drew the short straw and will have to be US Ryder Cup Captain 2016, poor chap. Splendid. pic.twitter.com/UaRACcPHcI
— Tweeter Alliss (@TweeterAlliss) February 17, 2015
It is worth remembering just how close Love came to captaining a winning side; if Poulter had not gone off like a bezerker on Saturday afternoon, for example, or even if Justin Rose had not holed out from 50 feet at the 17th 24 hours later (earning one of the all-time thumbs ups from Phil Mickelson), he would have overseen a victory that looked nailed on for much of the event.
Nevertheless, apparently that is enough of a pedigree for the PGA of America, an organization so used to losing that “almost nearly winning” seemingly becomes a compelling qualification for any leadership candidate.
“They asked me to do two things,” Love III said in 2012. “Promote the game, promote the Ryder Cup, be an ambassador for the game. And then to win. We did really well in one part of it and then we just got beat.
“I don’t think they’ll ask me to do it again. I don’t think you could do much better.
“I would feel bad if I took another team and tried to go win because didn’t win with this team. That was my team and I don’t think I’d ever want to change that. If they decided they had a gap down the road and decided they’d love for me to do it again. … maybe.”
In the aftermath of the Gleneagles shellacking, and Phil Mickelson’s pointed criticism of captain Tom Watson, 2008 winner Paul Azinger was the ex-captain most pundits expected to get the call—although that never really materialised.
More recently Fred Couples had been considered the firm favourite for the post, but it appears Boom Boom’s laid-back, surfer dude persona was considered perfectly suitable to oversea multiple Presidents’ Cups (an event that is basically a week-long party anyway), but not becoming of the more buttoned-down, corporate atmosphere at Ryder Cup’s (Azinger’s penchant for war metaphors might also have count against him in that regard).
You would have thought that, you know, actually winning (something Couples has proven pretty good at in the Presidents’ Cup) would be more important to the PGA of America than perception, but then again recent results hardly suggest the decision-making process is the best one around.
“If true, I believe that Davis is an excellent choice to lead US Ryder Cup in 2016,” Azinger wrote on Twitter. “The public may not remember Freddie’s (Couples) influence in 2012…I think Fred’s friendship with Davis gets him there again.”
If true, I believe that Davis is an excellent choice to lead U.S. Ryder Cup in 2016… http://t.co/xyMQNLdsqF
— Paul Azinger (@PaulAzinger) February 17, 2015
The continued floundering and general straw-clutching on one side of the Atlantic contrasts starkly with the situation in Europe, where a committee confident in its selection methods announced their next [winning] captain on Wednesday, following a meeting at the European Tour headquarters Wentworth.
Darren Clarke was the man selected, the 2011 Open champion given both the honour and the responsibility of continuing Europe’s three-event winning streak.
Last captain Paul McGinley—a man who perhaps forged a new blueprint for the role with his astute, comprehensive and refined captaincy style at Gleneagles—was undoubtedly a central part of the “brain trust” making the decision, with assistance from the likes of David Howell and Colin Montgomerie, making Clarke’s selection all the more intriguing.
Word is that McGinley and Clarke fell out after the latter, having been privy to a tentative succession plan that would have McGinley take the reins in 2014 and him take the team to the US in 2016, tried to jump the queue and challenged McGinley for the Gleneagles gig (and then after withdrawing backed Montgomerie, the 2010 captain, instead).
The switch was unsuccessful but the attempted coup reportedly fractured what had been a close friendship—suggesting remarkable magnanimity on the part of McGinley to let that go this time around.
Montgomerie insisted the decision to appoint Clarke had been unanimous, although one wonders if there was more support from some quarters than others.
After all another candidate, most obviously Miguel Angel Jimenez, would have been the more obvious choice if Europe were sticking to McGinley’s much talked about process of having future captains do time as vice-captains before they take on the main job.
Clarke has been a vice-captain before, in 2010 and 2012, but was conspicuous by his absence from Gleneagles as McGinley gave his own captaincy masterclass (one both Jimenez and Thomas Bjorn studied closely).
“The Ryder Cup has been a massive part of my life and my career, so to have the chance to lead Europe next year is a huge honour,” Clarke said on Wednesday.
“I am lucky to have played and worked under some fantastic captains in my seven Ryder Cups to date and I look forward to the challenge of trying to follow in their footsteps and help Europe to a fourth consecutive Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine next year.”
How much Clarke will follow recent tradition, then, remains to be seen. The US might be facing criticism for going back to a familiar (losing) name, but Europe’s own decision to perhaps stray from their recent operating methods could end up being a similarly controversial move.
.I’m so happy for @DarrenClarke60 …such a well deserved honour … now the tough job to retain the @rydercup #bringiton
— chubby chandler (@chubby6665) February 18, 2015
Put your house on a hole-in-one
We seem to love a hole-in-one here at Different Strokes, and with good reason (being in the clubhouse when someone has grabbed an ace is one of life’s unexpected pleasures).
But in terms of unexpected pleasures the bar was elevated to a whole new level at last week’s Thailand Classic, after Panuphol Pittayarat aced the 14th-hole towards the end of his second round, on the way to comprehensively missing the club.
He may have missed the weekend and a chance to make some money but that one pinpoint swing ensured it was an immensely profitable week for the 22-year-old, as he won a three-bedroom townhouse in the development being built alongside the Black Mountain golf course.
“I feel like I’ve won this golf tournament!” Panuphol said. “I hit the ball to the right and it was a good shot.
“I wasn’t sure if it had gone in, but one of the guys ran up and he said there’s no golf ball on the greens. So I started yelling and I was out of my mind. Six-iron is now my friend.”
Our favourite quote, however, was still to come: “All I got the first time was two shots [under par], but this time I really got something!”
All round Panuphol’s for the house-warming!
Davis Love (part 3) will be US Ryder Cup captain again? Still can’t believe Hal Sutton hasn’t been given another go. pic.twitter.com/NvPiQNTErt
— Andrew Cotter (@MrAndrewCotter) February 17, 2015
Bill me for my time
We probably should not leave without passing mention on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was won last weekend by Brandt Snedeker after the customary Jim Furyk Sunday collapse.
The event might not be quite the spectacle it was back in the days when it was known as the Crosby Clambake—blame the unavoidable, cloying nature of capitalism and corporatism for that—but it is still pretty fun, especially when celebrities like Bill Murray, champion in 2011 alongside D.A. Points, turn up to play.
Here he is discussing his golf game during last week’s event, with Sir Nick Faldo either succeeding in being as annoying as humanly possible or failing miserably at trying to match Murray’s drole delivery and understated humour. You decide.
