The United States has lost three straight Ryder Cups and seven of the last 10. The collapse in 2012 at Medinah Country Club was certainly a cause for concern, but after the scathing reports that surfaced from the 2014 event, the PGA of America is looking to solve the team's woes.
As a result, a new "Ryder Cup Task Force" has been established and the 11 members were announced on Tuesday. They include PGA chief executives Pete Bevacqua and Derek Sprague, PGA secretary Paul Levy, former Ryder Cup captains Davis Love III, Tom Lehman and Raymond Floyd, and players Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk and Rickie Fowler.
A couple of notable captains - Paul Azinger and Ben Crenshaw - weren't named to the task force. Azinger (2008) and Crenshaw (1999) captained the past two U.S. Ryder Cup teams that were victorious. Azinger was asked to join but declined, and there have been no reports about Crenshaw's potential involvement.
"I'm just not ready to sit down and jump on a task force," Azinger said, in this ESPN article. "I have a scheduled meeting with the PGA of America in early November and I just think it's too soon for me to commit to jumping on a task force."
It's surprising Azinger opted not to take part in the venture because he made some comments following the team's loss at Gleneagles a couple of weeks ago. The former 12-time winner on the PGA Tour said there the U.S. needs to follow a better model when arranging and preparing their Ryder Cup teams and praised the Europeans' approach. He was the last captain to lead the U.S. to a Ryder Cup victory at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
"Europe consistently repeats a philosophy of leadership that every captain has learned from the captains in the past," Azinger said, via this GolfChannel.com article. "It is an approach that is comfortable and familiar. The U.S. approach is less comfortable and completely unfamiliar to every repeat player. The players have to adjust to a complete unique system to the previous two years."
Phil Mickelson, the most experienced U.S. Ryder Cup participant, made headlines during and after this year's event. Captain Tom Watson decided to sit Mickelson for the entire second day of the tournament - just one of his many decisions that raised eyebrows. Mickelson reportedly texted Watson and asked him to reconsider, but the U.S. captain did not budge. Then, after the U.S. was ultimately embarrassed 16 ½ to 11 ½, Mickelson said he believed the U.S. has abandoned the winning formula orchestrated by Azinger in 2008, which has led to three straight Ryder Cup losses.
Mickelson's words certainly resonated with the PGA of America, who asked him to join the task force that seeks to prevent such problems from occurring in the future.
