With the U.S. having lost six of the past seven Ryder Cups, the PGA of America has created a 11-member task force, including Tiger Woods and Phil Michelson, to take a closer look at its Ryder Cup failures. The Ryder Cup Task Force announced Tuesday is composed of five players, three former captains and three PGA of America officials. PGA chief executive Pete Bevacqua and Derek Sprague, next in line to be president of the PGA have been named to co-chair the task force.
The goal of the panel is to examine all aspects of the Ryder Cup, including selections of captains and players as well as how the week of the competition would play out. “This is a great step by the PGA to accomplish what we all want — to win the Ryder Cup,” Woods said in a statement issued by the PGA. The past captains on the committee are Davis Love III (2012), Tom Lehman (2006) and Raymond Floyd (1989). Paul Azinger and Ben Crenshaw, the only U.S. captains to win in the past 20 years, are not on the task force.
The PGA of America did not reveal a timetable for when the task force would meet or even what would come out of it. The next captain, typically announced at the PGA annual meeting in November, will not be selected until next year. “I think we’re naive to think we’re going to perfect a winning process in the next 24 months,” Derek Sprague was quoted as saying by The Associated Press. “I think this task force needs to be open to it. If we win in 2016, great. But even if we win, we shouldn’t say the process is perfect. It will be evolving.”