U.S. Ryder Cup task force under spotlight at Hazeltine
By Andrew Both (Reuters) - The reputation of the top American golfers will not be the only thing on the line for hosts the United States at next week's Ryder Cup in Chaska, Minnesota. Also under the microscope will be the merits of the "task force" created by the PGA of America following the crushing Ryder Cup loss by the U.S. to Europe two years ago at Gleneagles in Scotland. The task force was established, in the acerbic words of veteran golf writer Dan Jenkins, to identify how the U.S. could "compete better over the next 20 years without sinking more putts and shooting lower scores than the Europeans". American Jenkins was one of many who either mocked the task force or dismissed its creation as unnecessary. The 11-man task force, comprising eight current and former players and three PGA of America officials, tweaked the qualifying process for the 2016 event. Most significantly, it reduced the number of automatic qualifiers from nine to eight and added another captain's pick to make four in all, with the final wild card choice being announced just five days before the start of competition. The late selection of the 12th man was implemented in an effort to avoid the situation of two years ago when Billy Horschel won the final two PGA Tour events before the Ryder Cup, but too late to earn a spot on the already-finalised team. The task force also chose as captain one of its own members, Davis Love III, a decision which brings to mind the appointment of Dick Cheney as George W. Bush's vice-presidential running mate in 2000 after Cheney had headed the search committee for a suitable candidate. Love presided over a losing team in 2012 that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with a last-day meltdown, though his captaincy at the time was generally praised, notwithstanding the final result. 'ESTABLISHMENT' CHOICE Still, his selection to return for a second crack at the job is hardly an example of bold 'outside-the-box' thinking, but more a safe 'establishment' choice. The task force also agreed on a policy of having four assistant captains -- ideally two former captains joining two experienced players with the potential to become future captains. Whether the task force will make any difference this year will be impossible to quantify based solely on the result in Minnesota. If the Americans win, perhaps they would have won anyway, task force or no task force. If they lose, would they have lost by an even greater margin without the task force? We will never know for sure. But even before the event, the task force has become a butt for punch lines. The great Jack Nicklaus described the task force as "sort of overkill" while European stalwart Lee Westwood tweeted "what a massive pat on the back & confidence booster it is for Europe that team USA needs to create a Ryder Cup task force!!!" Hal Sutton, the 2004 U.S. captain, told Reuters he did not think the task force would make much difference. "The Europeans are just playing better. That's all there is to it," he said. And just a few days ago at the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Australian world number one Jason Day pondered: "If America doesn't win, I wonder what'll happen to that task force?" a remark that drew chuckles from reporters. If the Americans end up losing at Hazeltine National, Day will certainly not be the only asking that question. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)
