[jwplayer Xx43OCcU-9JtFt04J]
NBC golf commentator Paul Azinger cracked the code for the U.S. as 2008 Ryder Cup captain with his ingenious use of the “pod system,” in which he broke the 12-man team into three 4-man groups to foster stronger bonds. The U.S. won in a rout and ever since it feels like anything Azinger says about the Ryder Cup becomes gospel.
His latest hot take is one I’m not ready to get on board with for a variety of reasons, but first here’s what Azinger told Gary D’Amato of Wisconsin.Golf:
“I would lobby for Tiger to be the all-time captain for both the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup,” Azinger said. “I just don’t know who else is more qualified. Especially the way he handled the Presidents Cup and that situation and all the things I’ve heard since, how relaxed he was after they got waxed the first day.
“They were all stressed, didn’t know how to act. He came in, big smile on his face, ‘Hey, relax. We still have jet lag. We don’t even know the course yet.’”
One step at a time
There’s no doubt that Woods deserves to be U.S. Ryder Cup captain – likely in 2022, or as soon as he wants the job. And I would pencil him in to return to the Presidents Cup in 2021. After all, both Fred Couples and Jack Nicklaus did three consecutive tours of duty, so there’s plenty of precedent for an encore performance. But I want to see Tiger manage a victorious Ryder Cup team before I hand him the keys to the kingdom in perpetuity, and, in particular, a road triumph. The U.S. hasn’t won on foreign soil since 1993. Let’s see him end that streak and then we can talk.
Woods earned a victory in Australia last month, but for the better part of three days he looked as if he was going to fall into the Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan camp in a coaching role. History suggests that most great players aren’t able to transfer what made them special to being great leaders of men.
Let’s be honest: Woods made several rookie mistakes in his managerial debut. Had the Americans not rallied in Sunday singles, he was going to be just the second losing skipper for the stars and stripes in Presidents Cup history and second-guessed for allowing the Patrick Reed-Webb Simpson experiment to go on far too long (they were 0-3); for encouraging and allowing the majority of his team to play the Hero World Challenge (there’s a reason for the jet lag that contributed to their digging an early hole) instead of arriving early and playing the Australian Open; and for benching his best player, himself, all of Saturday.
Woods helped his cause by going 3-0 in the matches he did play. But how will he handle the situation when the team is behind and he can’t affect the outcome by hitting a shot? There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence from various players detailing how Woods buried his nose in a litany of stats and poured over information in assembling his lineups. He took the job seriously, and I expect that will only continue.
A new era of captaincy
The days of a captain being simply a mascot of sorts, a former major champion who stands up, takes bows, salutes the flag and says funny things are over. They haven’t come better than Paul McGinley, the European captain in 2014, who was a master tactician, always plotting his next move and finding surprise, but correct, pairings. McGinley proved how ludicrous it was that a captain had to be a former major winner, as did Jay Haas at the 2015 Presidents Cup.
As Brad Faxon once put it to me, “How many Super Bowls did Bill Belichick play in? So, what difference does that make?”
The U.S. has a system in place where future candidates for the captaincy get to experience Cups in the vice-captain role, allowing for more continuity from year to year. Totally makes sense. That means Zach Johnson is in the pipeline and maybe 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk deserves another turn at the wheel a la Davis Love except at a future Presidents Cup. Then again, if the U.S. loses this time, the task force may have to blow up its blueprint for the next two decades and think more outside the box.
Maybe the simplest reason to nix Tiger as permanent U.S. team captain is that the move would eliminate the chance for Phil Mickelson to grab the reins. And won’t that be some great “What Will Phil Do Next” theater – win or lose.
Not to mention that if the U.S. does lose this year’s home game at Whistling Straits, the call to the bullpen should go to one man and one man only and his name isn’t Tiger Woods.
Hey, Zinger, we may need you.
[opinary poll=”would-you-rather-watch-team-golf-or-indi” customer=”golfweek”]
[lawrence-related id=778018810,778017025,778016948]
