Report: Davis Love III to get 2nd stint as U.S. Ryder Cup captain
Could a troubled U.S. Ryder Cup team forge forward into its future by once again reaching into its past? Golf Channel reporter Tim Rosaforte, citing multiple sources, reported Monday that Davis Love III, who captained the team in its heartbreaking loss at Medinah in 2012, will again captain the side in 2016 when the matches are contested at Minnesota's Hazeltine National Golf Club. Rosaforte said an announcement is planned for Feb. 24.
The PGA of America countered quickly by saying that no announcement regarding the '16 captaincy is imminent, but the mobile phone belonging to Mac Barnhardt of Lagardere Unlimited, Love's longtime agent, was buzzing with calls and texts on Monday night in St. Simons Island, Ga.
"I don't have confirmation of it," Barnhardt said. "I don't have denial of it, either."
He added, "It didn't sound like they were guessing, did it?"
No, it didn't. In the wake of yet another U.S. setback in the Ryder Cup last fall, a task force was formed to study everything about the U.S. team, including who would captain the team next after 65-year-old Tom Watson was unable to attain victory at Gleneagles in Scotland. It's been well reported that Watson's tough old-school style and limited communication did not gel with the U.S. players, and the situation came to a head at the post-game news conference on Ryder Cup Sunday when Phil Mickelson, benched for two sessions a day earlier, called out his captain in public: "Unfortunately," Mickelson said, "we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best."
Love captained the U.S. team to a 10-6 lead heading into Sunday singles at Medinah, outside Chicago, in 2012. But Europe, which trailed 10-4 at one point on Saturday, went on to record the biggest Sunday road turnaround in the history of the matches. Europe shocked the U.S. side and silenced a huge, partisan crowd, winning 8-1/2 of 12 singles points to post an incredible triumph by a score of 14-1/2 to 13-1/2.
For the U.S., and for Love, it was a devastating defeat.
At last autumn's Ryder Cup, where Europe would prevail for the eighth time in 10 matches dating to 1995, European captain Paul McGinley looked back at Medinah and paid Love a great compliment.
"We were the beaten team the first two days," McGinley said. "They were sensational the first two days, the Americans. Davis Love did a fabulous job. We were pulled from pillar to post."
Love, who will be 51 in April, is well-respected by his players, and has solid relationships not only with the "older" guard on the U.S. side -- mainstays Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk -- but with many of today's younger players, too. His name, though, had not been at the forefront of speculation regarding who would lead the U.S. in 2016. Leading candidates have been Paul Azinger, the last winning U.S. captain, Fred Couples, who has had success in the biennial Presidents Cup, as well as Steve Stricker, an assistant in 2014 who would seem to be the next man up among those with Ryder Cup experience who have yet to captain. Generally, Love had been viewed as a potential future Presidents Cup captain.
"I think it would mean the world to him (to be asked to be Ryder Cup captain again)," Barnhardt said. "I think he'd love to go through the process again. He'd love to win, but he won't be defined by the result.
"He is someone who is defined by the process of golf and life. The results don't define him," Barnhardt added of Love, a 20-time PGA Tour winner and champion of the 1997 PGA Championship. "He's had enormous tragedies in his life (his father, Davis Jr., was killed in an airplane crash, and Love had a brother-in-law who committed suicide), and neither do they define him.
"He can handle it. ... It's what he's made for. He's a leader in that kind of sense. He'd have been a great coach, or a great minister. He pushes, he doesn't pull. Everybody seems to bring up the negatives, but he doesn't tee it up thinking about losing, I know that."
In a statement released from its headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the PGA of America said: "It's premature to discuss the 2016 Ryder Cup captaincy. We're not prepared to comment at this time."
Love is competing at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles this week. He could not be reached for comment.
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