The appointment of Davis Love III as US Ryder Cup captain for the 2016 match against Europe at Hazeltine will be viewed by many as a chance for American redemption after what happened at Medinah in 2012.
Three years ago in his first stint as skipper, Love orchestrated a commanding 10-6 lead heading into the final day before Jose Maria Olazabal’s European team stormed back to win by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2.
So yes, the re-appointment of Love will give the 50-year-old American a shot at atonement for the ‘Meltdown at Medinah’ but far more significantly his second term in charge will restore for the American players a sense of investment in the whole process.
The Americans were beaten by 16-1/2 points to 11-1/2 in last year's Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland where five-time major winner Phil Mickelson was scathing of the often aloof approach used by US captain Tom Watson.
Aged 65, Watson was viewed by many as totally out of touch with his players and he made some curious selections for the four-ball and foursomes matches with his ‘old-school’ style of captaincy.
Under the immensely popular Love at Medinah, the American team felt fully involved with every aspect of that year’s Ryder Cup and, to a man, they agreed their captain had done everything in his power to create a winning strategy.
“He took it very seriously at Medinah,” Brandt Snedeker, who made his Ryder Cup debut under Love’s 2012 captaincy, explained. “He did a lot of research, he had great assistant captains and he really empowered the players.
“He really made it a team effort. It wasn’t about Davis being the captain, it was actually about everybody else but him. Everybody on that team will tell you, that’s why the Medinah loss was so bad . . . because we all wanted to win one for him.”
Paul Azinger, who captained the US to victory in the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla and had initially been tipped as a candidate for 2016 until he took his name out of consideration due to personal and business reasons, agreed.
“Davis is an excellent choice for many reasons,” Azinger told Golf Channel. “He’s still connected to the players, he was very prepared and thorough in 2012 and he will bring much needed continuity to the process.
“There is no magical formula. The captain creates the right environment to get everyone invested.”
Love, who clinched his sole major crown at the 1997 PGA Championship, played in six consecutive Ryder Cups from 1993 and tasted victory twice, on his first appearance and also in 1999.
However, he faces a daunting challenge in his second term as captain as the Americans bid to end a dismal stretch of eight defeats in the last 10 editions of the biennial team competition.
That demoralising run prompted the PGA of America to appoint an 11-member task force last October to examine the entire Ryder Cup process from a US perspective.
Among those on board were Love, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, who is a veteran of the past nine Ryder Cups as a player.
Furyk believes the Americans are only now playing catch-up to the Europeans, who he believes have benefited from having a highly effective Ryder Cup committee for well over a decade.
“They’ve done a good job as far as an organisational standpoint,” Furyk told Reuters. “We are just trying to give our team the best opportunity to succeed and do well, and it shouldn’t be about what has happened in the past
“It should be a fresh start in what we are trying to accomplish. We need to set goals which are 20 years in the making, take a look-ahead into the future and hopefully be successful for the next 20 years.”
