THE TEE BOX
LET BATTLE COMMENCE
A MAN WITH A PLAN…
Last month the 2016 Ryder cup captains were announced, Darren Clarke will leads
Europe’s charge for a 4th successive victory and put in place to stop him is former major
winner Davis Love III.
Whilst Clarke’s appointment was seen as a natural progression from his role as vice-captain
the choice of Love came from the newly formed US Ryder Cup task force that was set up
after the lack lustre performance of Tom Watson’s team in 2014. The US are desperate to
win in 2016 and to halt the European onslaught that has seen them win 6 out of the last 7
competitions Love is been given all the tools required to do the Job.
DARREN CLARKE
DAVIS LOVE III
The US have taken a leaf out of the European history books and are set to change the pick
structure of the team, this will see potential changes to when the automatic pick slots are
closed, they are now planned to remain open until after the season ending Fed Ex cup
finale. The players themselves have also changed their schedules to gain more experience
in the Ryder Cup format, Patrick Reed recently played in the Volvo match play competition
and the likes of Jordan Speith, Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel have also stated their
intentions to include more match play events over the next 18 months.
The US Captain has also surrounded himself with players that are “on side” with his
philosophy, Phil Mickelson (who famously spoke out against Tom Watson) is an influential
player in the US ranks and has openly stated his alliance with Davis Love III. Having such
an open statement of intent from players such as Mickelson is breeding new confidence
in potential US picks and it has also grabbed the attention of a number of bounce back
players including Dustin Johnson and in shape Jason Duffner.
Europe have had a winning formula since