Knife Damage Assessment

As a sophisticated consumer of golf media, there's a predictable ebb and flow to stories as each side leaks furiously to support their position.  Fortunately you have Unplayable Lies to piss off both sides...

First up let me acknowledge how poorly I called things.... for those who were sober in the lead-up to the event, you remember back in those simpler times when the most pressing issue was whether a certain pair of litigious Ulstermen could set aside their differences for the good of an "ever-closer union".  I took a stab (heh) at the outcome, positing GMac in the library with the candelabra.... in my defense, did anyone call Phil at the press conference with a shiv?

So Dear Reader, any guesses at what we've learned overnight?  I thought you would...

Tom Was Really Mean To Us 

My old friend Tim Rosaforte bats leadoff, with news that after warming up for the afternoon play, Phil was informed via text message that he would be a cheerleader.  It's  unfortunately in digital format, but do click through to remind yourself of Phil's early unveiling of his Michelin Man Halloween costume.

Alan Shipnuck seems to also be on the Rancho Santa Fe payroll, with this offering:

But this is the very mentality that has gotten the U.S. into this mess. It is folly to keep

waiting for the players to fix everything by magically playing better. A culture of losing must first be eradicated. The Americans’ approach to leadership must fundamentally change. 

Watson made little effort to get to know his charges or do any team building beyond a few get-off-my-lawn speeches. He was a remote and disengaged figure in the run-up to the Cup, and once the competition began, he had little understanding of how his players were feeling, physically or emotionally. (It didn’t help that two of his vice captains -- Ray Floyd, 72, and Andy North, 64 -- are decades removed from playing the Tour and the third, Steve Stricker, 47, is now a part-timer.)

Don't know about you, but I can't stop rereading that second sentence.  It's folly I tell you to expect our guys to play well... Shipnuck goes into bitch mode about Ted Bishop ducking him after the press conference (which we can all agree didn't go according to Hoyle) and throws this out:

This pass-the-buck reflex has become endemic on the U.S. side, and it was Watson’s continued blaming of the players that helped push Mickelson over the edge. He was not alone in being miffed with his captain. A veteran of multiple U.S. teams told me in the aftermath, “A lot of s--- went on behind the scenes that people don’t know about. It will all leak out eventually. People talk about Hal Sutton and Lanny Wadkins, but Watson is going to be remembered as 10 times worse.”

Alan, your anonymous source seems to be under the misapprehension that Tom was hired to be a coach and older brother.  In reality he was hired to be a savior, and guys that apply for that position are gonna do it their own way.  So we're gonna hear lots of stories about how bad a captain Watson was, and let's just stipulate as to that fact so we don't waste too much time in that cul de sac.

But Shipnuck, who's a good writer, loses me with this:

Anyway, McGinley had strong support among the players because of a pair of successful 

captaincies at the Seve Cup. This grooming of captains is another way in which the two sides differ, with Europe enjoying a far-reaching advantage. The Presidents Cup could be a platform for auditioning unorthodox Ryder Cup candidates -- how about Joe Ogilvie or Butch Harmon or Jim Mackay or Brandel Chamblee? -- but the PGA Tour treats it as if it’s an important event, and commissioner Tim Finchem has opted for the box office of old-timers like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Ken Venturi to lead the U.S. Europe is also cagier in its use of vice captains.

Two major points need to be made here.  First, the selection of McGinley was hardly the Kumbaya moment its portrayed as, as both Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie made last-ditch efforts to derail it and McGinley remains bitter.

Secondly, I love the last bit which makes perfect sense, unless, you know, you live in the real world.  Apparently he's forgotten that there are two organization with PGA in their titles, and the one he cites has no vested interest in the Ryder Cup (having foolishly let the PGA of America reatin those rights when the organization split into two parts, though it wasn't worth much back then).

In fact, Shipnuck is barking entirely up the wrong tree, as the PGA Tour has done far worse to undermine U.S. preparedness for the Ryder Cup through the absurdly taxing schedule of events in late summer/early fall.  All those events, the WGC and the FedEx Cup are Commissioner Ratched's reaction to not controlling any of the 4.5 events a year that matter.  Remember how the top Euro players were skipping FedEx events?  Which team looked better rested to you?

Phil Is Telling an Uncomfortable Truth

John Hawkins, again a usually sober soul, has this one covered in his weekly Hawk's Nest feature:

So throw this at the wall and see if it sticks: Mickelson’s post-rout callout of Watson might not be such a terrible thing. Lefty’s willingness to compare this latest ill-fated captaincy with that of victorious U.S. skipper Paul Azinger (2008) came with an underlying message: Let’s get serious, let’s get organized. May we all get sick and tired of getting beaten. 

“He’s just frustrated by not winning,” Azinger told me Sunday evening. “It came to a head.”

And this:

Perhaps it was also necessary, or at the very least, a much-needed attempt to shake up a system that has produced lousy results for far too long. Bishop chose Watson himself. Why is there no committee for such an important appointment? As I wondered here a couple of weeks ago, why are the U.S. captains’ picks made almost a month before the actual matches – before the final two FedEx Cup playoff events?

Yes, I'm sure a committee will solve everything.... what could go wrong?  I do think his last point is a fair one, though they've already moved that date back (the picks used to be made the Monday after the PGA Championship).  Obviously they couldn't have done worse this go 'round with Billy Horschel, but the fact is that the guy who breaks out of the pack at the end is as likely to be already on the team or a Euro in any event.

While I'm relieved that Hawk didn't characterize Phil as "Speaking truth to power," I'm still trying to figure out what this "truth" might be.  Something to do with pods I'm guessing, though I'm troubled that John, like others, uses the rout in foursomes to support his contention that our guys don't play as a team.  Fine, but the U.S. has historically fared better in foursomes than in fourballs, and has lost the singles matches the last two times out.

We Need Another Savior

So, who might that be?  Of course there's only one choice, and fortunately he's done with his motorcycle trip (seriously, that's how Steve DiMeglio leads his piece):

"I'm not going to rule anything out," Azinger, the last victorious U.S. captain in the Ryder Cup, said on Monday.

It's hard to say no when they need you to save them, isn't it?  So, what might motivate him to put the brand at risk?

"It is time for the PGA of America to recognize the great disconnect and formulate the same business model for selecting a captain as it does for selecting its president and

officers," Azinger told USA Today Sports. 

Azinger said Europe follows a similar business model where potential captains build up experience as Ryder Cup vice captains, learning from that year's captain and other vice captains. 

For instance, this year's Europe captain was Paul McGinley, who was a vice captain in 2010 and 2012. The 2012 captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, was a vice captain in 2008 and 2010. This year, Olazabal, Sam Torrance (captain in 2002), Padraig Harrington and Miguel Angel Jimenez were vice captains, with Harrington and Jimenez potential future captains. 

"The PGA of America has officers that move up the ranks, getting sage advice along the way. And then many of them stick around and keep offering advice," Azinger said. "I think the PGA of America should recognize their business model is exactly the same as what Europe uses in selecting a captain."

OK, I don't think this is a bad idea, but anyone care to venture a guess as to what happens when Phil is asked to be a vice captain?   Now I don't know about having captains around as vice captains post hoc, that seems a recipe for disaster, but the Euros pulled it off.  Perhaps they're playing a long con and hoping to lure us into untenable power-sharing agreements.

At the end of the day Robert Lusetich makes more sens than the whole lot of them together:

Mickelson -- who always needs to be the smartest guy in the room -- recounted how great Paul Azinger was as captain because he got players "invested in the process." 

I could stop right there and say, if you're not invested in the process anyway, then don't play. You're representing the United States, and if you can't get up for that does it matter who captains?

And he takes us down memory lane in amusing fashion:

In the Presidents Cup, Mickelson's captains have been Jack Nicklaus and Fred Couples, both hands-off leaders who let the players make decisions.

Corey Pavin certainly wasn't like this --€“ he let his wife run the show, but that's another story -- but Davis Love III was more a peer than a captain.

We had fun with Mrs. Pavin back then, especially over the leaking rain gear.  

But doesn't it really come down to this?

In other words, Phil likes to have his voice heard, and Tom Watson didn't listen.

 Or, in the alternative, you could find some better players...