After Fergie inspired Europe, USA turn to Superbowl legend Belichick to boost their title bid

an experience that nobody has ever gotten before.

“Tom and I got to talk to Coach a couple times and get some input from him.

“I know Bob Rotella (famous sports psychologist) has been helping me with so many ideas from the coaches he works with.

“But when Bel ichick says something, you listen good. He told me, ‘ You’ve just got to get everybody to just do their job, don’t listen to the noise.’

“It really resonates with everything I’ve been hearing – that our players are really, really good. If we just do our job and don’t l isten to the outside comments and noise and grind it out, we can get a win.

“It was just great to be part of that set-up at the Patriots. They treat their football team like a family and they all support each other so much. It was a great lesson for me and a great inspiration for the team.”

Getting the blend right is a big part of that family feel and Love admits that was a guiding principle in his decision-making when it came to choosing his first three wild cards last Monday.

In Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and JB Holmes he sees guys whose games and personalities complement many of the eight automatic qualifiers in his team.

They are, for the record, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Brandt Snedeker, Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka and Zach Johnson.

Whether world No. 7 and two- t ime Masters winner Bubba Watson is handed the fourth and final wild card after t he c onc lu s ion of t he se a s o n - e n d i n g To u r Championship next Sunday remains the biggest question in the build-up to Hazeltine.

But Love insists whoever he chooses won’t be decided on profile and world ranking but on how wel l the successful candidate f its into his team dynamic.

Love added: “I have been saying all along, we’re a sports team and we have to draft the right player for the right position. There’s going to be a lot of stats and a lot of things to look at.

“When it comes to making pairings the three guys we chose filled a lot of different roles.

“I’m not going to tell you everything about the roles that they filled, we can’t give away our secrets.

“But these guys added a lot statistically, emotionally and in terms of leadership. So the next guy is going to have to step up and fill a role as well.

“I haven’t really been able to talk to these three guys a whole lot about it. I know Tiger has been wearing Kuch out a lot on the phone. He probably blocked his contact a couple times last week.

“But now I need to sit down with these guys and talk to them about who do you think you would want to play with?

“Who do you think you would want to practise with? Which assistant captain would you like to have watching you play when you go out to play on Friday morning?

“So all those things we have to talk about and that’s going to help us decide who the 12th guy should be.”