The PGA of America needs to think out of the box for the selection of the US Ryder Cup team captain
Every two years, the PGA of America appoints a new captain for the United States Ryder Cup team and every time it does so, it hopes for a different result.
The PGA of America has a tradition of selecting the captain with an age of between 45 and 55 years. The criteria also say that the players must have represented their continent in at least two Ryder Cups.
In addition to that, it is commonly observed that most of the captains had at least one PGA Championship added to their resumes. Coincidentally, the PGА Championship is the only major golf championship that is organized by the PGА of America.
All of the last nine US Ryder Cup team captains somehow fitted the requirements of the PGA of America. Yet, seven of them failed to deliver the trophy to the United States, despite having much better teams on paper.
For the 2014 Ryder Cup in Scotland, David Toms is no doubt the strongest contender for captaincy.
However, the results do not seem to change in the coming editions, until the PGA of America starts thinking something out of the box.
There are a number of options that the PGA of America can opt for. May be they can go for some elder players such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, or some other players of their calibre.
The legendary Tom Watson can also be a good option, as he still contends on a number of PGA Tour events, despite reaching the age of 63, on a regular basis.
The American has a total of eight major championships added to his resume, and four of them came in Scotland.
Therefore, if there is any American who knows how to win on the Scottish soil, then it is undoubtedly Watson.
If someone argues that he is too old to lead a team, then why not go for some younger option such as Phil Mickelson? He definitely has the potential of leading the team to victory as a playing captain.
Over the last 14 editions of the Ryder Cup, the European team has shown continuous dominance by winning 10 of them.
For the Europeans, it does not even matter where the tournament is hosted. If it is held in Europe, they have more chances of winning. If the US venues host the event, the Europeans still manage to call themselves as favourites.
According to the golf experts, one of the main reasons behind Europe’s success in the tournament is their strength in selecting the right captains.
This year, the tournament was held at the Medinah Country Club in Chicago. Entering the Sunday’s singles – the final round – the Americans had a four-point lead over their European counterparts.
It was almost confirmed that the US team will record a victory at the end of the 18 singles matches.
However, Jose Maria Olazabal, the European team captain, did not lose hope and talked to his team in detail.
At the end of the day, Team Europe came out of the field victorious, marking the biggest comeback in the history of the event.
The golf commentators believe that it was all Olazabal’s efforts, supported by his team members, that completely changed the scenario of the scorecard in the end.
After all this, one thing is for sure. If the US team wants to improve its track record in the prestigious tournament, the PGA of America will have to deviate from its traditional approach of selecting captains.
Otherwise, it will not be surprising to see the US team facing more defeats in the tournaments to come.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: