PGA of America president defends Phil Mickelson’s Ryder Cup outburst
The man who brought in Tom Watson to captain the 2014 American Ryder Cup team has finally spoken up after yet another U.S. defeat in the biennial matches, and it’s not exactly in the tone you might expect.
PGA of America president Ted Bishop appeared on BBC Radio’s 5 Live on Sunday, saying Phil Mickelson’s post-loss comments reflected his passion for the matches and had some potent truth to them.
“[Mickelson is] passionate about the Ryder Cup and he feels that there needs to be some changes going forward and I think Phil would undoubtedly say that, if what he said on Sunday night helps propagate some of those changes, then he probably would be okay with it,” Bishop said.
He continued, explaining the PGA of America was creating a task force of former presidents, captains and current players to look at all options in revamping the selection of players and captains.
“From a United States standpoint, just really blowing the model up and starting completely over and trying to get some people involved who, as Phil said, are invested in the process,” Bishop said.
The underlying message in what Phil said after the loss and in the tone of subsequent reporting is clear, and Bishop gets it.
“We need to have the input of players,” he said. “Players need to feel good about where we’re going with this.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
