The United States was embarrassed in losses to Europe following the 2012 and 2014 Ryder Cups. The PGA of America is expected to name the captain of the 2016 team next week, and that man previously assumed the same role in recent years.
Davis Love III, who served as the 2012 Ryder Cup captain, will return in the same capacity come 2016, according to Tim Rosaforte of the Golf Channel. Love III oversaw the worst collapse in Ryder Cup history back in 2012 when the United States surrendered a 10-6 lead heading into the final day and eventually lost 14 ½ to 13 ½. However, it appears as if the 11-man Ryder Cup Task Force (which Love III happens to be a part of) thinks he's the man for the job for the 2016 event.
Although the PGA of America told the Golf Channel, "It is premature to discuss the U.S. Ryder Cup captaincy and we are not prepared to comment at this time," an official announcement will be made on Feb. 24 at PGA of America headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla, reports Ryan Lavner of the Golf Channel. In addition to Love III's captaincy, Rosaforte noted fellow task force members Tom Lehman and Steve Stricker are "likely to be heavily involved in the 2016 matches."
However, Love III was not publicly regarded as the frontrunner for the 2016 Ryder Cup captain position. Fred Couples and Paul Azinger were considered the leading candidates, but Couples said in November that he's "not a PGA of America guy" while Azinger said he "had no interest in being the captain in 2016 for many reasons" and actually recommended Love for the position. Azinger, who led the U.S to a Ryder Cup victory in 2008, said Love was "very prepared and thorough in 2012 and "will bring much needed continuity to the process."
The PGA of America established the Ryder Cup Task Force after the U.S. was crushed by Europe 16 ½ to 11 ½ in the Ryder Cup last September. Many PGA figures, most notably Azinger, said that Europe is more consistent in their leadership efforts, which has resulted in their success. Europe has defeated the United States in eight of the last 10 Ryder Cups.
Tom Watson captained the 2014 team that suffered their worst loss since 2006. Not only that, there emerged reports of Watson's scathing critique of the team the night before the final round of play, among a number of other things. Watson eventually apologized in an open letter, but the PGA of America sought to avoid such issues with the newly formed Task Force.
Davis Love III will be the next man in line to instill a consistent philosophy of leadership for the 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup team and beyond.
