Former golfer and Ryder Cup captain Jack Nicklaus defends 2014 Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson.
The Europeans were clearly the better team in the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland which led to a 16.5-11.5 victory over the young American team. After the Ryder Cup, many blamed U.S. captain Tom Watson for the loss, but golf legend Jack Nicklaus is backing up Watson.
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“The (Europeans) just played better,” Nicklaus told the Palm Beach Post. “It doesn’t make any difference how much planning you do, if the other team plays better, they’re going to win.”
There has been fallout from the loss. It was the third loss in a row for the U.S. and eighth in the last 10 contests and this week the PGA of America announced the formation of an 11-person task force to reevaluate the entire U.S. Ryder Cup process. This task force will include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler as well as former golfers and current PGA officials.
According to Nicklaus, a victorious captain in 1983 who was on the losing end in 1987, the latest developments amount to an overreaction.
“When I had teams and guys had problems, we went back to the team room and talked about it. That’s where the conversation should be,” he said. “I feel the same about the task force thing. That’s sort of overkill. We’ve had 70 years of the Ryder Cup, and it’s gotten along just fine. The pendulum will swing back without making a monumental thing about it.”
The next Ryder Cup will take place in 2016 at Hazeltine National Golf Course in Chaska, Minnesota.
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