Davis Love III Passes The Buck On Captain’s Biggest Job

Was this what the Ryder Cup Task Force had in mind?

Was this what all the top-secret meetings of American golf’s greatest minds (allegedly) came up with?

Wait, what’s up with this “I’ll let the team decide…” stuff from American Captain Davis Love III?

You heard it last Monday from the one-time major champion, one of golf’s great underachievers and now, perhaps, Captain Love doesn’t want the burden of choice to fall on his narrow shoulders.

Let the players decide?

Well, that means Rickie Fowler will be on the Ryder Cup team, for sure. Why not? Rickie went 0-2-3 in the 2014 matches.

Why not?  “Well…….(hesitation), he’s, uh, useful,” according to CBS analyst Sir Nick Faldo, who had to think hard as to a reason then added that Rickie “would be a great guy in the team room.”  Well, Sir Nick, that’s super, a great reason but we can’t recall any Ryder Cup matches being won from the team room.

Sorry.

Okay, so D.J., Jordy (Spieth), Philly Mick, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, rookie Brooks Koepka, Sneds (Sn-e-e-e-deker) and Zach from Iowa, Johnson, are going to tap on their collective skulls and come up with four guys.

The next four guys on the points list after the “Auto-Eight” were Bubba Watson (ninth), J.B. Holmes (10), Rickie (11) and Kooch, hey I won the Bronze Medal, Kuchar.

Last go-round in 2014, Bubba went 0-3-0, Kooch went 1-3 and Rickie went 0-2-3, but he was great in the team room, from what we hear.

Then comes J.B. Holmes. He is one of the seriously underrated guys out there and he’s been on a winning Ryder Cup team — the 2008 team so cleverly captained by Paul Azinger. Where are you when we need you Paul?

Holmes went unbeaten in 2008 — 2-0-1.

That would make him, not Rickie or Bubba or Kooch, as the top Captain’s Pick if Captain Courageous, er, Davis Love III were actually making the Captain’s Pick.

There will be three players announced September 11 then one more on the 25th.

Are they waiting for someone not on the team to win three-straight playoff events?

Who knows what the logic will be?

Will there be a surprise pick?  An untested rookie?

The one advantage Team USA has this year is that Europe has six first-timers on its squad — Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Captain’s Pick Thomas Pieters.  That’s a LOT of Ryder Cup rookies for the Euros.

The good ol’ USA needs to take advantage of that and home field advantage and squash those guy from across the pond.

The only problem is that the USA putting instruments have had a tendency to be on vacation at Ryder Cup time.  Doesn’t take a Task Force of golf geniuses to figure that out.

Hey guys, why don’t you simply make more putts?

What a novel idea.

And it’s not like the Euros have been on any hot streaks lately.  Rory McIlroy can’t buy a putt and with his net worth, you’d think he could.

Henrik Stenson used up all his putts at the Open Championship and now he’s got a bum knee to boot.

Everyone knows Sergio can’t putt. Never could.

Wow, what an opportunity for the home team.

All that remains is to play the matches.

And that’s typically when things fall apart for our boys.

Hopefully it will be different in Minnesota.