Watson calls on experience in the eye of youth

U.S Ryder Cup Captain Tom Watson has a wealth of experience himself but come Friday 26 September he will be relying on what looks like a young, fresh team that takes on Europe in the 40th Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

With this in mind Watson has called upon two old friends to assist him in Scotland, recently adding Raymond Floyd to his backroom staff alongside Andy North whom he announced back in July.

Eight-time major champion Watson will be 65 when he flies into Perthshire and he hopes his young guns will quiet down the anticipated raucous crowd that will no doubt line the fairways of the PGA Centenary course.

Watson has never been on a losing side in the Ryder Cup, four times as player (1977, 1981, 1983 and 1989) and once as captain in 1993, when he was victorious over Bernhard Gallacher at The Belfry.

It’s been 21 years since his last stint as captain and he’s the first to return to the role following a hiatus since Jack Nicklaus, who returned in 1987 after four years away and subsequently tried and failed to re-gain the trophy in his backyard of Muirfield Village.

The next Biennial battle will see Watson become the eldest captain in the history of the cup but he can take confidence from being the last American captain to lead his team to victory on foreign soil.

The Kansas City native will have to call on all his and his assistants’ experience as his team currently has four rookies out of nine that automatically qualify. It is still very early days though as American qualification ends after the US PGA Championship in August, where he hopes omens will play a part as Valhalla plays host to the final major of the year and was the venue of USA’s last Ryder Cup triumph back in 2008.

Jimmy Walker, Harris English, Ryan Moore and Chris Kirk will all fight to keep their slot in the team and represent their country on the grandest stage of all. Watson has been quoted in saying that he has been in discussions with his vice-captains and he knows the ‘types of young players who might make the team and the types of players that actually he hopes make the team.’

His captain’s picks therefore will be vital and you can be sure if his team stays around the same rookie/experience split, his picks will most certainly have Ryder Cup experience.

Any player you listen to says that experience is vital in Ryder Cups and the nerves can easily get the better of you. Remember Tiger’s hook off the first tee at the K-Club in 2006.

Kevin Stadler, Patrick Reed, Brian Stuard, Scott Stallings, Jordan Spieth, Gary Woodland and Charles Howell III covet the next seven spots outside of the top-nine, and all would be rookies if they were to jump into automatic qualification. Hunter Mahan is the next man in line with Ryder Cup experience in 17th place. With the PGA Tour starting a lot earlier this time around nearly a quarter of the season has passed already and players are busy fitting in tournaments with Ryder Cup points on offer.

Vice-Captains

In Andy North, he has a close friend next to him whom he trusts. They turned professional at roughly the same time and while Watson amassed worldwide success North only has three PGA Tour wins to his name although two of those are US Open victories in 1978 and 1985 so he know how to cross the finishing line when the pressure is on.

It’s the first time he’s been a Vice-Captain and his only playing appearance came in 1985 when he failed to win a single point in three outings.

A team member of North in 1985 was Floyd who at the time was playing in his sixth Ryder Cup and the battle at The Belfry would be the only time he would taste defeat.

Eight times as a player and once as Captain, Floyd’s involvement will bring a winning mentality to the American team room. Respected by the players, the 71 year-old was a playing Captains pick in 1993 by the man who he assists this time round. In 2008 Paul Azinger called on Floyd’s experience with great success as his assistant helped USA win back the Ryder Cup for the first time nine years.

Between the three of them Watson, North and Floyd will have to come up with the ideal partnerships and team bonding needed to be victorious away from home. Having gone so close in 2010 and even closer two years ago at Medinah, Watson will want a team he can be proud of and a team he feels can win. He is a natural born leader but away from the captains glare it is often said the vice-captains offer up the motivation and give that little pep talk just when it’s needed. The last two victorious captains Jose Maria Olazabel and Colin Montgomerie both said that without their assistants by their side taking over when need be, their names wouldn’t have gone down in the history books.

Come the end of September, even if Watson’s name goes down in folklore his ‘old’ buddies will certainly have a big part to play.

Image Credit - Golf.com Facebook page/ Tom Watcon official website

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