Steve Stricker – Page 14 – Syndication Server

Change in Ryder Cup selection criteria gives U.S. captain Steve Stricker two more picks

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker will receive an additional two captain’s picks for the 2020 Ryder Cup.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker will receive an additional two captain’s picks for the 2020 Ryder Cup. The change comes as a result of so many tournaments being canceled these past three months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

All U.S. players had the opportunity to earn points beginning in 2019, and those points will still be recognized in the selection process. It’s just that six of the 12 players on the team will now be selected using the points system instead of eight players, as had previously been the case.

Potential U.S. team members will accrue points through the second FedEx Cup Playoff event (the BMW Championship), which concludes on Aug. 30.

The remaining six players that make up the Ryder Cup team will be selected and announced by Stricker in early September, ahead of the Sept. 22-27 event at Whistling Straights in Kohler, Wisconsin. Previously, the U.S. captain was only able to select four players.

“With all the various changes to the 2020 schedule, it quickly became apparent that we would need to amend our selection criteria,” said Stricker, who will be captaining in his home state of Wisconsin. “After many deliberate discussions, we collectively agreed that a smaller sampling of 2020 events — including just one major championship — would justify a one-week extension of the qualification window and an increase in the number of Captain’s selections from four to six. These changes were sparked by circumstance but conceived with integrity in mind. In the end, we believe they will allow us to put our best team together to compete at Whistling Straits in September.”

This change also assumes all schedule events – including the 2020 Ryder Cup itself – take place as currently planned.

A total of 11 events have been canceled since the pandemic took hold in mid-March. The Tour is back in action this week at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, but without fans.

There has been much talk about what an absence of fans – or even a limited fan presence – would do to the typically raucous Ryder Cup atmosphere. Those details remain under discussion.

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U.S. captain Steve Stricker says Ryder Cup without fans would be a ‘yawner,’ decision coming within weeks

U.S. captain Steve Stricker said this week a decision on the 2020 Ryder Cup scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin will be made in the “next two to three weeks.”

The biennial bout between the USA and Europe faces numerous obstacles created by the COVID-19 pandemic. It could be held as currently planned, could be held without spectators, or postponed until next year.

“We’re sure hoping we can play it,” Stricker said on “The Golf Affect,” a weekly Madison-based radio show where he is a regular participant. “So far we’re planning as it’s a go, that we’re going to have it.”

He just hopes it doesn’t happen without fans.

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“Personally, I would hate for that to happen,” Stricker said. “I mean, this event is made by the fans. To me, if it was without the fans it almost would be a yawner of an event. The passion, I don’t know if it would be there.

“The fans create all that unbelievable atmosphere that we play in front of. And without the fans, I don’t know. It still would be a nice event, but I think the fans make it everything. And to cheat out the fans of Wisconsin, I think would be a crime. So, I just hope that when we do have it, it can be up to its full potential.”

But time is of essence right now, because Stricker said construction of the infrastructure at Whistling Straits hard by Lake Michigan would have to start pretty quickly if the event is held in September.

“They’re going to have to make a decision here probably within the next two or three weeks because the buildup to put up all the stands and all the corporate tents, all that kind of stuff, has to happen in June,” Stricker said. “So, you’ve got to kind of look into a crystal ball and no one knows, really, no one knows what’s going to happen. It’s a wait-and-see for me, but we’re going ahead with planning as it’s going to happen, and hopefully it does.”

One option on the table is to postpone to 2021.

“I think they would just push everything back. That’s what happened at 9-11. When it happened back in 2001, they canceled that year’s Ryder Cup and moved it to 2002, and that’s how we got on the even years for having the Ryder Cup,” Stricker said. “That would be up to the PGA of America and the PGA Tour to hash that out. I’m sure Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, isn’t so keen on the push back of the Presidents Cup. They rely on the money they generate for that event. I don’t know if we could have two events in one year.

“You know, have the Ryder Cup in June. It’s also an Olympic year next year so I think there’s just so much going on and there’s so much movement and fluidity that no one can really make an informed decision at this time.”

Stricker is going to have to make a personal decision on his own in the next few weeks. He has a spot in next week’s Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. That’s the scheduled restart of the PGA Tour season, which came to a halt March 13 because of the coronavirus.

Stricker remains on the fence on whether or not he’s heading to Texas.

“We’ve been very cautious as a family,” he said. “My oldest daughter (Bobbi) has an autoimmune issue. So we’re a little bit more cautious than everybody else. The grandparents are still alive and we don’t want to be bringing (the virus) to any of them. So we go out and get our groceries and that’s about it.

“We’ll have a few driveway dinners with friends, but I haven’t been in anybody’s house, nor has anybody been in our house. We’ve taken it pretty seriously and we’ve been very cautious.

“I want to go play next week. I’m just struggling if that’s the right thing to do or not. There’s a lot of things. You know, taking a spot away from somebody else. There’s kids that could play instead of me. For me it would be about going out and seeing the guys on the Ryder Cup team and trying to play well. I’m still excited to play. But I’ve had a run and a good time of playing and my time has been. So, do I take that spot? Do I go and play or do I give it up? So those are the things that I’m constantly thinking over and trying to come up with the right decision.”

Lynch: Ryder Cup Buddy System rides again with vice-captain picks

At least the U.S. team can save on personalized accessories by just using the same gear from last time.

It was after the 2014 Ryder Cup debacle in Scotland — a week during which Phil Mickelson’s most effective shots came during the losing team’s press conference when he targeted skipper Tom Watson — that the American team decided to crowdsource the captaincy.

The PGA of America created an oft-mocked task force to reverse U.S. fortunes in the biennial event. Another undeclared objective was to ensure that future players wouldn’t be denied hugs or high fives from some grizzled legend who thought the only inspiration they needed was to see the Stars & Stripes run up the pole.

Watson was 65 when he led his squad to Gleneagles, long removed from the weekly social circus on Tour, shoehorned into the role by then PGA president Ted Bishop, who idolized him. His leadership style — about as warm and fuzzy as a boxcutter to the face — grated on players. Europe won handily and the aftermath was ugly.

Determined to ensure greater buy-in from players on the choice of future captains, the PGA of America’s task force effectively handed control of the selection process to a small cadre of Tour players who had been appointed to the panel. One of their number was duly named captain for the 2016 Cup: Davis Love III, who had led the team to a narrow defeat in ’12. Love’s four vice-captains — Tom Lehman, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods — were also fellow members of the task force star chamber. (Bubba Watson later received a pity position as VC).

The 41st Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota, in 2016. Photo: Peter Casey/USA TODAY Sports

The U.S.’s 17-11 victory that year at Hazeltine cemented the notion that the task force’s strategy was a winning one, so it came as no surprise a few months later when Furyk was named captain for ’18. And the first three deputies Furyk announced? Love. Stricker. Woods. He later added David Duval, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar.

Woods relinquished the vice-captaincy when Furyk named him a captain’s pick to play, which he justified by winning the Tour Championship one day before the team got to Paris. But Furyk spent another captain’s pick on Mickelson, who had shown scant form in months and who went on to lose both sessions he played. But what he lacked in form Mickelson made up for in stature. He, too, was a member of the task force whose creation was spurred by his mutiny in Scotland.

The result was a painful loss for America.

But the buddy beat goes on. Last year Stricker was named as the captain for Whistling Straits in September.

Nice guy? Check.

Inoffensive to other players? Check.

Acceptable to Phil and Tiger? Check.

Task force member? Check.

Stricker immediately named his first vice-captain: Furyk. On Monday, he added two more names to his back office team: Love and Johnson. The task force bench is getting worked harder than the ’62 Mets, though at least the U.S. team can save on personalized accessories by just using the same gear from last time.

Even if Stricker has compiled an enviable career on the PGA Tour, even if he is regarded as one of the most solid citizens in the game, and even if the Ryder Cup is being held in his home state of Wisconsin, his appointment as captain and his choice of underlings suggests that Team USA is hostage to an awfully small circle. That’s a perception that can undermine a captain, no matter how well-intentioned. Are decisions being made in the team’s best interests or on the basis of personal loyalties among task force members? Is popularity with one’s peers now the most important consideration in selecting the leadership of Team USA?

In the years since Gleneagles, the American team has mimicked Europe’s successful strategy of breaking in future captains with a vice-captaincy role or two. But the task force buddy system keeps recycling former captains into those deputy roles, keeping the inner circle tight. If history is our guide, then Johnson can expect the nod for the ’22 captaincy, while Messrs. Stricker, Love and Furyk shouldn’t throw away their walkie-talkies.

Stricker will be the 29th man to have led America into Ryder Cup competition since Walter Hagen commanded the first team in 1927. The 28 who preceded Stricker as captain had major championship wins on their résumés.

The selection of Stricker marked a welcome end to that unimaginative tradition, but in every other respect his captaincy signals it is business as usual for the buddy system.

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U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker names Zach Johnson, Davis Love III as 2020 vice captains

Steve Stricker, captain of the 2020 U.S. Ryder Cup team, has named event veterans Zach Johnson and Davis Love III as vice captains.

When Steve Stricker was named the U.S. Ryder Cup captain early last year, he promptly named Jim Furyk as a vice captain.

On Monday, Stricker added two more.

This fall, two-time Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III and two-time major champion Zach Johnson will join Stricker’s staff as the U.S. attempts to regain the little gold trophy held by the Europeans, the PGA of America announced in a statement. Stricker also will name one or more vice captains in the future.

Europe was won nine of the past 12 matches.

“It’s important to surround yourself with quality individuals who you can lean on and who have the best interests of the team in mind,” Stricker said in the release. “Jim and I have talked about this a lot in the last year and now we are happy to add two Ryder Cup veterans in Zach and Davis to the conversation with the goal of putting this team in a prime position to win.

“Both Zach and Davis share a passion to compete at the highest level and are strong communicators, which is important, especially when we’re in the heat of competition.”

The 2020 Ryder Cup is scheduled for September 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin, although the COVID-19 global pandemic could force a change. The PGA Tour is planning to restart June 11 with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

Love was the Ryder Cup captain in 2012 when the Europeans stormed back from a 10-4 deficit to win 14½-13½ at Medinah Country Club north of Chicago. Love also captained the USA’s ship in 2016 at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota, where the Americans won, 17-11. Love played in the Ryder Cup six times and was a vice captain in 2010 and 2018.

“Steve has been such a consistent presence on this team, both as a player and as a vice captain, and now it’s his time to lead,” Love said. “He has a terrific vision for what he wants our U.S. team to not only accomplish, but represent, all year long.

“I’m confident in the program he has in place and am anxious to get to work.”

Johnson, who played in the Ryder Cup five times, was a vice captain in 2018 when the U.S. was routed, 17½-10½, at Le Golf National in Paris. Johnson also served under captain Tiger Woods in the 2019 Presidents Cup, where the Americans won, 16-14, at Royal Melbourne in Australia.

“In a domestic Ryder Cup,” Johnson said, “it’s important to defend ‘our turf,’ and to do so on behalf of Steve – in his home state at Whistling Straits – is a great opportunity for our team to make a statement.”

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Nominees announced for PGA Tour Champions player, rookie of the year honors

Check out who’s in the running for the PGA Tour Champions end of the year awards.

As the only players in 2019 to win multiple times, seven players have been nominated for the PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year award.

Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jerry Kelly, Bernhard Langer, Scott McCarron, Steve Stricker, Kevin Sutherland and Kirk Triplett are all vying for the honor. Five of the seven nominees finished inside the top 10 in the race for the Charles Schwab Cup, won by McCarron, who ended Langer’s seven-year run atop the tour’s money list.

The favorite to win, McCarron won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Insperity Invitational and Mastercard Japan Championship and finished runner-up at the Senior PGA Championship, Cologuard Classic and Shaw Charity Classic. He sat atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings for the last 21 weeks of the season.

As for the Rookie of the Year award, Retief Goosen and Doug Barron were nominated. Both awards will be presented next month at the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii.

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