Ryder Cup: USA should ask Paul Azinger to captain team again, says Rob Lee
'2008 skipper can get the best out of American young guns'
Tuesday 30 September 2014 10:01, UK
Far be it from me to dampen an excellent European victory – but the Ryder Cup really needed an American win.
USA have now lost six of the last seven events and even though you cannot accuse any of their players of coasting or not trying at Gleneagles, I fear they will become less and less engaged with it if they keep coming out on the losing side.
The big question for the US Golf Association now is who do they turn to next?
There are some positive signs for USA, though, especially in Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.
Reed is very brash but he is great value and got a superb win over Henrik Stenson in the singles, while his partnership with Spieth looks like one which will yield points for years to come.
Rickie Fowler will only go from strength to strength, too, and even though Keegan Bradley didn’t have a fantastic time at Gleneagles, he gets the Ryder Cup and will always be an asset.
It is, however, important that USA get the right captain in place.
I don’t think Tom Watson was too old to do the role, as captaincy is about how you prepare and what you do behind closed doors, not about your age – but I don’t think he did a magnificent job.
So the big question for America now is who do they turn to next?
They’ve tried the player with a mega career in Watson and it didn’t work out, so perhaps they will take a glance over to Europe and go down the Paul McGinley route.
Paul didn’t have a stunning career – he had a good, solid one with four European Tour wins – but he brought a new level of detail to the captaincy and left absolutely nothing to chance.
If I was making the decision, though, I’d go radical and return to Paul Azinger, the man who led America to glory at Valhalla in 2008, as I think he could get the best out of the young players they’ve got coming up.
Sensational
I don’t think any American player was going to beat an indomitable Rory McIlroy on Sunday, though.
Some of the golf Rory provided against Fowler as he won 5&4 was absolutely outrageous and I don’t think we are doing him justice by calling him the World No 1 – he is the World No 1 plus, the World No 1 and a bit.
He was spot on all week but he wasn’t alone, as Justin Rose was sensational.
Rose, who scored the most European points with four, is turning into a really good all-round player and was actually quite expressive and animated in this Ryder Cup, something we don’t always see.
He was probably taking a page out of his good mate Ian Poulter’s book but it could also be because he just feels so at home and comfortable in the team environment.
The Europeans spend so much more time together than the Americans that when the Ryder Cup rolls around banding together doesn’t feel strange, and even quiet, shy guys like Victor Dubuisson get a kick out of it.
How the 2014 Ryder Cup Was Won
It was lovely, too, that Jamie Donaldson collected the match-winning point - he played such great golf coming into Gleneagles and managed to sustain that in Scotland and not get overawed.
Jamie, much like Stephen Gallacher, is a great example to players on the European Tour that just because you are approaching the ripe old age of 40, it doesn’t mean the Ryder Cup is out of reach.
Congratulations to Europe. Show us what you’ve got, America.
Watch How the Ryder Cup Was Won, 8pm, Monday, Sky Sports Ryder Cup (channel 405).
