Wednesday 28 September 2016 11:01, UK
United States Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III insists his comments about selecting "the best golf team, maybe ever" were misconstrued - but he will still send his players into battle on Friday with exactly the same message.
Love's statement, made as part of a longer, conversational interview on the Golf Channel last week, has dogged him ever since.
The 52-year-old admits it "raised eyebrows" among his own team but he is adamant it was taken out of context.
"A guy from Canada called in and said 'I'm supporting the US team, I just think they need a little bit more swagger when they go out and play' and I said 'I agree with you, we've got to get these guys going'.
"Then Matt Adams (the host) was asking me 'What are you going to tell your team?' I said I would tell my team they're the best team ever assembled.
"So the question wasn't 'How do you rank this team in history?'. It was 'What are you going to tell your team to fire them up?'
"So I would still tell them the same thing: 'You're a great team, let's go out there and have some fun, play your game, don't get in your own way'.
"I don't think I'm going to tell you what I'm going to tell them but if I was a football coach or a motivational coach I'd tell my team that they are very good and to go play their best.
"It's just unfortunate that, you know, in that nice conversation, that it got misconstrued."
