Defending the Ryder Cup captaincy qualifications of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson

Davis Love III has yet to fill out his coaching roster for next year’s Ryder Cup, but whether or not he puts Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson on the bench at Hazeltine he wants the golf world to know that both aging superstars are captain material.

Love, who will go into the 2016 event as an underdog after the Americans lost the last three Ryder Cups to the Europeans, was compelled on Wednesday to defend both legends’ leadership skills after Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee claimed they took themselves out of contention for captaincy long ago. Because Tiger and Lefty displayed no “passion” for the Ryder or Presidents Cup in their prime playing years, Chamblee opined that neither “deserve” to be named captain.

DL3, one of Jay Haas’ vice captains last week in South Korea, vociferously disagreed with Chamblee’s assessment. He lauded Mickelson, who went 3-0-1 against the Internationals as a controversial wild-card pick, for his unofficial role of player-coach at the Prez Cup.

Love also verified that Woods, rehabbing from back surgery at home, contacted him during last week’s play to assert his interest in a vice captaincy if he failed to make next year’s Ryder Cup squad.

“Tiger was really interested in the pairings and what was going on,” Love said on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive.

His participation in the Ryder Cup task force and support for Love to return as captain next year despite his stint in 2012 when the Euros staged an epic comeback to beat the home team at Medinah proved how ardent Woods was about the team competition.

“He’s like, ‘What are you guys doing over there? Why are you putting this guy with that guy?’” Love said. “He was talking to Fred [Couples], talking to me, talking to [Steve] Stricker about what was going on at the Presidents Cup. That led to conversations about what we were going to do at Hazeltine.”

Love begged to differ with anyone who believed Woods and Mickelson were dispassionate observers of Ryder Cup tourneys by noting that no one now is looking to current world No. 1 and 22-year-old Jordan Spieth to be the top guy.

“Back early in their career … [Woods and Mickelson] were learning how to be players first, learning how to be leaders second. But if you’ve been paying attention to the last few Ryder Cups or Presidents Cups, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have become respected leaders of this team,” said Love. “Whether you’re playing in Korea or at Medinah, these guys have stepped up to the plate and been leaders. So now the players respect them, they look to them for leadership and they’re expecting that in the future.”

Indeed, Love suggested that critics might want to get used to the winners of 19 major champions between them taking dominant roles in cup play going forward.

“These guys are going to be a big part of what we’re doing,” he said. “They’re going to take the Jordan Spieths and Patrick Reeds under their wings and teach them how to be Ryder Cup players and Ryder Cup leaders.

As for what the future holds for Woods, who will be 40 in December and was forced to miss this week’s Frys.com Open to kick off the 2015-2016 season after undergoing a second back procedure, Love believes he will be closely involved in the next Ryder Cup in some capacity.

“I’ll tell you this: Tiger Woods wants to play for me at Hazeltine,” Love said. “He wants to be on the U.S. team. He wants to win points, and that’s his main focus. But he also said, as did Phil, Strick, Jim [Furyk], Tom Lehman, ‘We will do whatever it takes to help you win.’”