Report: Woods, Mickelson on Ryder Cup task force; Azinger not
The PGA of America is expected to announce the members of its Ryder Cup task force on Tuesday, the committee charged with scrutinizing all aspects of the American approach to the matches against Europe with the hope of stemming a trend where the U.S. has lost eight of the last 10 matches.
Among those on the committee are names you’d expect: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and Jim Furyk — many of the men who’ve consistently been on the wrong end of the Ryder Cup in the last two decades. Rickie Fowler made the cut. So, too, did Steve Stricker, Tom Lehman and Raymond Floyd.
Who didn’t? Paul Azinger, the last guy to lead the Americans to victory back in 2008, according to Golf World.
That’s somewhat of a shocker considering Azinger’s willingness to play an integral role in modernizing the American Ryder Cup approach. However, Azinger has also been adamant there’s a need for massive, sweeping change, not only in the culture inside the American team room, but also in the PGA of America. Whether or not that’s a bridge too far for the PGA of America to consider remains to be seen.
It’s also somewhat surprising the 25-year-old Fowler is a part of the task force. Fowler has been on just two Ryder Cup teams and is yet to win a match in seven tries. Fowler does seem to represent the future of te American side, so the changes this task force helps bring about will impact him longest of anyone on the panel.
This task force has an agenda that should carry into sometime in 2015. At a minimum, this group will influence who becomes the next Ryder Cup captain, a person PGA of America president Ted Bishop has already said will not be identified in ’14. Those hopeful for an Azinger return could take solace that it would seem ridiculous to give the ’93 PGA champion a seat at the task force table and then ask him to carry the job through to Hazeltine in 2016.
However, it would seem Azinger is unlikely to be part of the plan moving forward. Or maybe he’ll surprise us all again.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
