'New committee shows America are determined to improve fortunes'
Wednesday 22 October 2014 16:39, UK
Rob Lee says USA’s Ryder Cup taskforce is a good idea – but is not enamoured by all the names on it...
If I was part of the USA’s Ryder Cup taskforce, the first thing I would want to be discussed is how the PGA Tour could gain more control.
The PGA of America rule the roost when it comes to Ryder Cup in the States, but the players aren’t theirs – they are members of the PGA Tour in the way our guys are members of the European Tour.
The PGA of America do have vested interests, with the income from the Ryder Cup absolutely colossal, but I think they need to devolve some of their powers for the benefit of Team USA.
I don’t see what three members of the PGA of America can say about how to foster a winning team.
The European Tour seems to have it spot on for me – its committee selects the next captain, while players regularly make the transition from vice-captain to the top job later down the line.
There seems to be a boot-room conveyor belt where players are involved in the process from the off, something that doesn’t really happen in America at present.
I am slightly surprised by some of the names on America’s 11-strong panel, though.
The likes of Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Tom Lehmann make sense but I wouldn’t have included Tiger Woods, a man who has never seemed that invested in the Ryder Cup.
That decision strikes me as something the powers that be thought they should do rather than wanted to do, while I also don’t see what three members of the PGA of America can say about how to foster a winning team to the likes of Lehmann and Davis Love.
The absence of Paul Azinger, who has reportedly turned down a formal offer to be on the committee, also is surprising.
Azinger was the last victorious captain, in 2008, and his ‘pod system’ has been celebrated by Phil Mickelson, so you’d think his input would have been highly sought after.
However, the great thing about the setting up of this taskforce is that America seem to be taking their losses seriously and are determined to get back to winning ways.
Perhaps it’s because they realise that if they keep getting gubbed then the public in the States might turn off their TV sets, but hopefully it’s also a pride thing.
Mikko Ilonen was the star of the weekend, winning the Volvo World Match Play at London Golf Club, and I am really pleased for him.
Ilonen has always been a really underrated player but at 34 years of age, inside the world’s top 40 and with five wins on the European Tour – three within the last 18 months – he can now kick on.
Mikko will now be in all the big events and he has the game to do well in them – he is a tall, rangy guy who can give the ball a filthy dig with his irons and he is very calm and composed on the course, too.
Ilonen also proved he has the physical knowhow and prowess by playing for five days straight in the Volvo and while he lost to Joost Luiten in the group stages, he won when it mattered.
It was nice to see another event being staged in London, after the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, but with Volvo pulling out of the sponsorship, it will be interesting to see what happens.
I think it is great for the capital to have golf on its doorstep as the catchment area for fans is so vast, so hopefully something can be sorted out and London keeps the Match Play.
I thought the London Golf Club to be a good venue but my favourite in London is Sunningdale’s Old Course, which is natural, undulating, has the wind whistling through the trees and is so pretty.
You hit heather when you miss the fairways and it’s just as good as it gets.
I am backing Lucas Bjerregaard at the Perth International Golf Championship. He secured his European Tour card last week in Hong Kong by finishing fifth and he could be the best Dane of a talented group that includes Thorbjorn Olesen and Morten Ørum Madsen. In The McGladrey Classic, meanwhile, I will go for Tony Finau. I bigged him up recently and he has finished seventh and 12th in the last two weeks. A win might be just around the corner…
Watch the Perth International Golf Championship (from 4.30am, Thursday) and The McGladrey Classic (from 7pm, Thursday), live on Sky Sports 4 (channel 405).
