New Task Force to Study U.S. Ryder Cup Woes


Though it's not as serious as an outbreak of a new virus or an extended crime wave, team USA's problems in winning a Ryder Cup has propelled its overseeing organization to form a task force to get to the bottom of the issue.

On Tuesday the PGA of America announced it was going to create the 11-member Ryder Cup Task Force. The group includes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, whose career records in the biennial competition are an unspectacular 13-14-2 and 11-17-6, respectively.

In a statement, the PGA of America said the goal of the task force is to "examine the entire Ryder Cup process, including the selections of captain of United States captains; the Ryder Cup points system; dates by which the team is determined; dates of captain's selections; and the selection of vice captains."

The move toward studying the process is coming on the heels of the Americans' third straight defeat to the Europeans, last month at Gleneagles in Scotland. The U.S. has won only two of the biennial match-play competitions since 1995, while the Euros have won eight.

Woods has been sidelined since the PGA Championship because of a back injury and didn't play at Gleneagles. "I think this is a great step by the PGA to accomplish what we all want - to win the Ryder Cup," said the seven-time U.S. team member in the PGA of America's statement. "The Ryder Cup is very important to every player who has the honor to represent his country. I'm excited to be part of this group."

The task force will be co-chaired by PGA of America vice president Derek Sprague and its CEO Pete Bevacqua. In addition to Woods and Mickelson, also on board are past captains Raymond Floyd, Tom Lehman and Davis Love III; past Ryder Cup team members Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and PGA secretary Paul Levy.

"Competing in a Ryder Cup is the experience of a lifetime, and serving as captain is the ultimate honor," said Love, a six-time team member, the 2012 captain and a vice-captain in 2010. "Having experienced all roles within this great event, I am deeply committed to serving once more to help direct Team USA to be a force again in the Ryder Cup."

The Ryder Cup began in 1927 as a competition between the U.S. and Great Britain; players from the entire continent of Europe were added in 1979. The U.S. leads the overall series, 25-13-2, but since 1985 Europe has a resounding 10-4-1 advantage.

Paul Azinger and Ben Crenshaw, the only U.S. captains to win in the past 20 years, are not on the task force. Azinger said he was asked by the PGA of America to consider being part of the panel but declined. "I'm just not ready to sit down and jump on a task force," he said. "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."

Nine-time European Ryder Cup player Lee Westwood, whose career record is 18-13-6 and went 2-2 in his four matches at Gleneagles, tweeted after hearing of the task force: "What a massive pat on the back & confidence booster it is for Europe that team USA needs to create a Ryder Cup task force!!!"

Graeme McDowell, who felt the infighting by the Americans and criticism of American captain Tom Watson by some players following their latest loss in Scotland detracted from the Europeans' fine play in their 16½-11½ victory, is also an interested observer.

"I see the negative connotations to it taking away from our victory, but I see the positive side that they'll have to really have an in-depth look to what they are doing wrong, and try to bring together a recipe that connects," the Northern Irishman said from the Volvo World Match Play Championship in England.