Fred Couples says U.S. doesn’t need no stinkin’ Ryder Cup task force

Fred Couples has had a modicum of success directing Tiger Woods and his supporting cast of individual superstars to the winner’s circle, going 3-0 as captain of U.S. Presidents Cup teams. So when Freddie goes all Aaron Rodgers (r-e-l-a-x, Team USA!) about the hysteria surrounding the Americans’ Ryder Cup woes and the formation of a star-studded panel to study the issue to death, perhaps the powers-that-be oughta take its cue from Cap’n Couples.

“I don’t think anyone should panic. I don’t think we need a ‘task force,’” Couples, using air quotes, told reporters at this week’s Champions Tour season finale. “I don’t think we need the PGA of America straining about this. What I really think they need is to get players that have been on a lot of these teams to get a feel for what kind of captain they need.”

Like, maybe, Fred Couples? The laid-back skipper of the 2009, ’11, and ’13 Presidents Cup units would certainly entertain the notion and if nominated would turn Tom Watson’s reportedly autocratic approach upside down.

Watson’s captaincy has undergone a complete CSI:Gleneagles dissection after the Europeans clobbered the Americans last month and Phil Mickelson complained publicly about team members having no input into playing time and other decisions. Couples, who counts Woods as a good friend and termed Mickelson (whom he would have played on Saturday in Scotland, whereas Watson notoriously benched him) “the best guy on every team I’ve ever been on,” touted his status as “just another guy” as one of his major attributes.

Couples also believes that putting his players at ease and coddling the biggest names in the game were the ways to get the best out of them. Watson, he said, failed to “cradle his boys enough, and that’s what they need.”

Other ideas Couples offered to boost the chances of the Americans, who have lost six of the last seven Ryder Cups: give players some say in picking captains and, when the matches are at home, choose courses that U.S. golfers play frequently.

Couples conceded that a Presidents Cup team was easier to govern than a Ryder Cup group because the former offered more playing opportunities for everyone, but that leading the latter was not brain surgery.

“It’s still 12 players in a room, and I think they all are different in certain ways,” he said. “You’ve got to let the players get involved ... I particularly don’t think it’s really that hard to do, I really don’t.”

Couples additionally disputed the concept that preparing for the Ryder Cup was a two-year process since he had no idea now who would qualify for the 2016 team.

“I think it’s all just a little bit much,” he said. “We need a little more fun and that comes with winning.”

Even with his perfect Presidents Cup record and experience as a player on five Ryder Cup teams, and as Davis Love III’s assistant captain in 2012, Couples did not receive an invitation to join the task force -- which the winner of 15 PGA Tour events joined Jack Nicklaus in terming overkill.

“How about the PGA Ryder Cup Committee, can I say that?” Couples suggested. “That sounds way better.”