Jack Nicklaus did not go so far as Lee Westwood in ridiculing the PGA of America’s Ryder Cup task force, but the 18-time major champion believes formation of the high-profile panel to figure out how Team USA can beat Europe was excessive.
Jack Nicklaus derides Ryder Cup task force as ‘overkill’
Jack Nicklaus is not a fan of the high-profile committee the PGA of America organized to investigate how the U.S. can win the Ryder Cup. Things will even out on their own ‘without making a monumental thing about it,’ says the two-time captain of Team US
David Cannon
In remarks during the official reopening of his renovated PGA National’s Champion Course, Nicklaus also took an indirect shot at Phil Mickelson’s public criticism of Tom Watson and defended the 2014 U.S. captain.
“When I had teams and guys had problems, we went back to the team room and talked about it. That’s where the conversation should be,” said Nicklaus, who went 1-1 in his two stints as Ryder Cup captain, according to the Palm Beach Post. “I feel the same about the task force thing. That’s sort of overkill. We’ve had 70 years of the Ryder Cup and it’s gotten along just fine. The pendulum will swing back without making a monumental thing about it.”
Since Mickelson took the opportunity of the the losing team’s post-Ryder Cup press conference to lash out at his captain’s leadership, Watson has endured ongoing second-guessing for poor strategy and miscommunication with his players. Nicklaus, however, supported the skipper’s extensive preparations.
Indeed, the bottom line for Nicklaus -- as it was for just about everyone who watched the Euros beat the Americans 16.5-11.5 last month at Gleneagles -- was that the home team simply took it to the visitors.
The Europeans “just played better,” said Nicklaus. “It doesn’t make any difference how much planning you do, if the other team plays better, they’re going to win.”
Not exactly rocket science.
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