Captain Watson: "The way it played out at the end with Phil making the comments that probably should have been made in a private room."

Tom Watson has been pretty quiet about the 2014 Ryder Cup and ensuing fallout (task force!). But visiting St. Andrews this week to promote a British Golf Museum exhibition of five of his Open trophies, he opened up a bit more about various key decisions and most intriguingly, the falling out with Phil Mickelson. Perhaps trying to get put the entire cup to bed so that Open week will be all about saying goodbye to the event that defined his career.

The Herald's Jim Black with Watson's extensive Ryder Cup comments, including this...

"It was disappointing, but we got beat by the better team. Our team played its heart out, and, after getting off to a great start on the Sunday, if they had continued along that path we could have been right there at the end.
"But the European team responded in the singles matches and when your team is 56 shots higher, you don't expect to win. The European team played better than we did.

"The bottom line is that I made the decisions based on the best information at the time and I had the support of my vice captains. We made collective decisions on who was going to play with whom."

He did lament overplaying Jimmy Walker of all his decisions. I'm not sure that was the clarity we were seeking but hey, it's a regret!

Comments

[ol Harv]

"The way it played out at the end with Phil making the comments that probably should have been made in a private room."

Exactly. But hey, we got the TASK FORCE out of it and look at all the stuff they've done already...

[thusgone]

watson here sounds a little like w & co. post-gaming the decision to invade iraq.

[William V. Dickey]

Great information! Your blog is the first one I look for in my inbox everyday. Love this new series.

[Just night putting]

thusgone

W? Really? Who is the freakin idiot that pulled us out and created hell on Earth? Own your crap libs. Bush thought we would stay for 50 years like Germany, Japan or South Korea.

[KLG]

"Bush thought we would stay for 50 years like Germany, Japan or South Korea." Really? Now that's some pretty good revisionism right there! This might be difficult, hard words and all, but turn on the light, Night Putter and read a little:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.%E2%80%93Iraq_Status_of_Forces_Agreement
I'll help you with the first sentence: "The U.S.–Iraq Status of Forces Agreement...was a status of forces agreement (SOFA) between Iraq and the United States, signed by President George W. Bush in 2008. It established that U.S. combat forces would withdraw from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and all U.S. combat forces will be completely out of Iraq by December 31, 2011." All in all, seems quite reasonable since we had "Mission Accomplished" as early as May 1, 2003, declared right there on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln by this man: http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbusheliteactionfigure.htm
Now, watch this drive!

[thusgone]

@Just Night Putting: if i knew then what i know now, i might have made a different decision about posting the above. as it was, i made the best decision i could based on the intel available.

[Figgster]

Phil is my favorite player currently. Before him, Watson was my favorite. I love Phil but I really wish he had been a little classier and told this to Watson in private. I think a guy with those credentials deserved better treatment than to be thrown on the subway tracks at a press conference.

Watson took a lot of heat for some of his comments, such as: "We stink at foursomes"; We need everybody to compete like Spieth and Reed are!"; Let's see, the US was 1-7 in foursomes. Yeah, I'd say they stunk. As for Spieth and Reed, yeah, it would have been nice if the rest of the team had played like those guys. But apparently, the delicate psyches of the US team were bruised by such mean, insensitive statements. Maybe if he'd said "Don't take this the wrong way guys, but I think we can play a little better. Now everybody come in for a group hug, after which we'll talk about our feelings", it would have struck the right chord for those poor US players.

33 years ago, a Ryder Cup captain gave his team a pre-Sunday pep talk in which he told them to "go out and show me some brass". (doesn't take a genius to know he meant show me some cujones). That captain was a guy named Nicklaus. Playing in the last match that day was a guy named Watson. Most memorable about that day was the wedge Lanny Wadkins hit on the 18th to tie his match and secure the cup for the USA. A little known fact is that Watson would have won his clutch match and clinched the cup regardless of what Wadkins did. Maybe the US Team could have used some of the "brass" Watson had when he was at his peak.

Watson is right, the European team played better. They always seem to putt better than the US! But, I'm sure this task force will figure out why our players can't make big putts in the Ryder Cup. Sensitivity sessions should probably be the first step to accomplishing that.

[Just night putting]

Research what I said not what you want me to have said. And own the idiot decision to pull out and release hell.

How about a Fresca?

[V.Lind]

If who he played was based on the best intel Watson had available, he knew NOTHING about his team, and his advisors were equally ignorant. He will clearly continue in denial to the end of his days. He looks a proper mug, and a petulant one.

[thusgone]

@Jusr Night Putting: comment on what i said and not on what you want me to have said.

"you'll get nothing and like it."

[Pro from Dover]

Ol Harv +1 on the Task Force remark

[PG]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/golf/ct-medinah-could-host-the-2019-bmw-championship-20150605-story.html