Sick and tired of losing the Ryder Cup, the PGA turned to Tom Watson, a proven winner who has never been involved with a losing team in the biennial scrap with Europe.
In an announcement on Thursday, Dec. 13, during a segment on NBC’s Today, the PGA named 63-year old Watson as the captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup matches in Scotland.
Yahoo Sports writes:
There are plenty of reasons to name Watson as the captain — he’s a five-time British Open winner and loves playing in the elements — but the biggest of all could be his past success as a captain on foreign soil. Since the 1981 event, the United States has won the Ryder Cup on foreign soil on only two occasions — the most recent being the 1993 Ryder Cup at the Belfrey, where Watson was the captain.
Simply put, the PGA of America believes it needs a home run pick to break the recent run of bad form that’s seen the U.S. lose seven of the last nine Ryder Cups. Watson’s past success on foreign soil in the event, coupled with his stellar play across the pond make him a logical captains pick.
Watson, an eight-time major champion, played on four U.S. Ryder Cup teams that went 3-0-1 as he posted a 10-4-1 record. He also is the last captain to win on foreign soil, as his team defeated Europe, 15-13, at the Belfry in 1993. The USA has just two wins since then — in 1999 under captain Ben Crenshaw and 2009 under captain Paul Azinger.
“I was waiting 20 years to get the call. I loved it the first time. It’s a great honor to be able to do it again,” Watson said. “This time we need 14.5 points. … I just hope to set the table for the group of guys. I’m the stage manager. In two years I hope to get it done.
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