Wednesday 25 February 2015 07:44, UK
Sky Sports golf expert Butch Harmon says Davis Love III is the ideal choice to lead the United States' quest to win back the Ryder Cup next year.
Love, who was in charge of the States for their 2012 meltdown at Medinah, has been unveiled as skipper for Hazeltine, Minnesota.
It has taken the US a while to learn from what Europe do and now they are trying to imitate that we have to get the right players on the team.
The 50-year-old saw his chances of victory in Chicago ripped away when Europe, led by Jose Maria Olazabal, fought back from 10-6 down on the final day to take the trophy by 14-1/2 to 13-1/2.
'Debacle'
Before the announcement, Harmon told Sky Sports News HQ: "I think he is the right choice, it came down Fred Couples and Davis Love
"The committee formed after the debacle last year with some of the players and Tom Watson by getting the PGA Tour and players involved has been a good thing for the US Ryder Cup team.
Davis Love and Darren Clarke are very good friends and you are going to see two captains that have tremendous passion for the Ryder Cup.
"I think that Davis Love was selected not because he is any more popular than Freddy, I just think Davis can handle the media a little better than Freddy could have and this is going to be a very scrutinised Ryder Cup team because of everything that has happened in the past.
"I think Davis is the right guy for the job. If you look at Fred Couples, he's very laid back and has never been a Ryder Cup captain before, he's never had to go through the scrutiny of what the Ryder Cup captain has to go through, it's completely different than the Presidents Cup.
"I think they made the right choice in Davis Love, he's been a captain and I also think you will probably see Fred Couples be one of vice-captains on this team so he will definitely still be involved.
"Davis did a great job at Medinah a few years ago, he had a four point lead going into the last round. The captain can't play, the players have to go out and play and the American players got outplayed.
"The European team outplayed them in the singles on Sunday and that's why they won, it wasn't the fault of Davis Love, he did everything he could to put the US team in a position to have a chance to win but the team just didn't get it done.
"The committee that was formed said, let's look at why we lost eight of the last 10 Ryder Cups, let's look at what the European team does and let's try and emulate what they do, and I think you are going to see that.
'Beautifully'
"I think you are going to see former captains be vice-captains and future captains be vice-captains which is what the European teams has done so beautifully.
"It has taken the US a while to learn from that and now they are trying to imitate that we have to get the right players on the team. The bottom line is still the players have to play. So far the European team has kicked the American team's butt to put it common English. The American team is going to have to get going.
"Darren Clarke is the perfect captain to captain the European team in the United States because Darren has a huge following in the US, very similar to what Jose Maria Olazabal had a few years ago when he was the captain in Chicago. They love Darren Clarke.
"Davis Love and Darren are very good friends and have been for quite a while. You are going to see two captains that have tremendous passion for the Ryder Cup."
