Ryder Cup: Love Talks About His Team’s First Eight Players
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III is feeling good about his team’s chances at Hazeltine.
On Monday, captain Davis Love III held a press conference in which he discussed the first eight players on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, the ones who earned their spots via the points list. They are Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson.
“Dustin obviously is one of our most talented players. He’s a powerful, long hitter obviously,” Love said. “He’s willing to do anything we ask him to do. He fits in very, very well. He’s easy to pair, and he’s just so calm under pressure.”
Love cited an example of Johnson’s grace under pressure. At the 2010 Ryder Cup in Wales, Love was with Johnson hitting balls on Thursday afternoon, shortly before the opening ceremony. Johnson’s driver broke. Love said that while he personally would have panicked, Johnson just said he had a great back-up in his locker, went to get it and delivered.
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“I’ve seen him do so many things like that, just really calm and collected,” Love said.
“Obviously what happened at the U.S. Open with the ruling, not many people would have handled that as calmly as he did.”
Jordan Spieth, Love insisted, is all about the team and the game plan.
“Something that we really talked about in this whole year-and-a-half process is we have to have a game plan and stick with it,” Love added. “Jordan is another guy that can be paired with anybody. Obviously great putter under pressure.”
Phil Mickelson has been on every Ryder Cup team since 1995. He was on the committee to work out the kinks and get some long-term planning into the Ryder Cup for the U.S.
“The biggest thing that Phil brought up on this committee is that we have to have some consistency and some continuity,” Love said, adding that Mickelson has been on 11 teams in a row. “I’ll never forget Jack Nicklaus saying that when [Phil] played for Jack, Phil went 0-5 and Jack said he was the most valuable player on his team that year because Phil was a great team guy, great guy to have around the locker room and in the team room.”
Prior to his win at The Barclays, Patrick Reed had fallen to eighth place on the list. Love noted that Reed must have disliked his position on the bubble, given the fact that he took care of business at Bethpage Black to shoot up to fourth.
“He’s a fiery competitor. Obviously we saw that over there in Scotland two years ago,” Love said. “He’s a guy that’s so competitive. He wants to be on this team. He wants to win. He’s talked about it for two years. He’s ready to go.”
Jimmy Walker recaptured his winning form in style with a victory at the PGA Championship.
“He’s obviously one of the best players on Tour the last three or four years. A longer hitter than you think; he’s got a lot of power, which will be great for Hazeltine,” Love said. “He had a taste of the Ryder Cup two years ago, and he really wanted to be on the team. I think it was holding him back a little bit actually before the PGA. He was trying too hard to make points.”
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Brooks Koepka, the only rookie so far, was close to making Jay Haas’ Presidents Cup team last year in Korea, according to Love.
“He’s great to pair with anybody, because who wouldn’t want to play with Brooks as far as he hits it? He’s got a lot of power. He told me he’s really motivated by watching Europe celebrate two years ago,” Love explained.
Koepka had an ankle injury earlier in the summer, and there was concern about whether he would be healed in time for majors and the Ryder Cup.
“It took a whole team effort to talk him off the edge of going to The Open Championship,” Love said. “We had a team, and he had his team of people, and we all got together and said, look, Brooks, let’s be focused on the playoffs and the Ryder Cup. There are going to be a lot of Open Championships.”
Coming down to the wire on Sunday was a tense time for several players, including Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson, the last two to qualify via the points list.
“I was just nervous for them, because I knew they were nervous,” Love said. “You know, send a text message to a guy, does it put more pressure on him; or do you call a guy and say, don’t worry about it, you’re playing great. I know when the captain talked to me, I always got more nervous. So I’m trying to be smart about it.”
Snedeker is a veteran, and according to Love, is one of his great friends.
“He’s a guy that wants to stand there on that last green and make the putt. He’s an unbelievably great pressure putter. But he brings an air of confidence to the team room and just to the whole team,” Love noted. “He just brightens up the room when he walks in. He’s always positive and full of energy.”
The last man to make the team was Zach Johnson.
“We had dinner last Sunday night after the Wyndham, and he was nervous about getting knocked out,” Love recalled. “Now that I talked to him last night before dinner, I think Zach is going to free it up a little bit more the next couple weeks and go play.”
Those eight are the backbone of the U.S. squad. Love needs to pick four more players to round out the team, and he’ll have to make a tough call. Does he pick Rickie Fowler? Jim Furyk? Who’s on the shortlist?
“I think guys that get hot the next two weeks are who we are looking at,” Love explained.
The next three picks will be made after the conclusion of the BMW Championship on Sunday, September 11. The final captain’s pick will take place Sunday evening after the Tour Championship on September 25.
“Anybody in the top 100 has to be on our radar, because a guy could get hot the next two weeks and move himself to the Tour Championship and be in the running for the FedExCup, and I get to pick him on Sunday night.”
The final pick being decided after the Tour Championship is being called the “Billy Horschel rule.” Two years ago, Horschel caught fire during the playoffs and won the FedEx Cup, but the Ryder Cup teams had already been selected.
“We have a team, and these eight guys need to help us pick four more,” Love explained. “Phil Mickelson is their leader on the golf course, and we have got some veterans from No. 1 to No. 8 that need to take ownership of this team and go play.”
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