Mickelson our leader, admits Captain Love

The more the week goes on, the more we’re asking if Davis Love III is actually the US team captain or whether it’s another of the big egos in the team room, writes Steve Scott.

“You know, I think 22 straight teams (Ryder and Presidents Cup), he’s our leader, for sure,” said Love of Phil Mickelson, who seems to have commandeered the US team ever since he called the mutiny on Tom Watson in the aftermath of Gleneagles two years ago and was the driving force behind the task force.

“You know Phil, he always has a theory,” continued Love. “He had a theory about the (presidential) debate last night, he has a theory who will win the games on Saturday.

“I used to say he was 50-50,” he added of those theories. “Then I gave him 75%, and I think I’m moving him up to 80%. I like the way he thinks and I like his planning.”

Phil, and the other big ego in the US team room, Tiger Woods – who had to be reminded yesterday that as a vice-

captain he wasn’t supposed to stand in the official team photograph – “remember everything”, according to Love.

“I think they’ve figured it out,” added the captain. “Jack Nicklaus told me that one year on the Presidents Cup Phil was his MVP and he got zero points, he just figured out how to support his teammates and make his team better.

“A team win takes precedence over individual needs and goals. Tiger and Phil are leaders in that now.”

Bubba Watson’s slightly curious arrival as a fifth vice-captain after he was snubbed for the final place was given a hugely positive spin by Love.

He said: “He thinks his job is to go on the first tee and whoop up the crowd. He already started this morning.”

While Love won’t hark back to previous failures – “this team hasn’t played before” – he did draw some comparisons between now and 2012.

“It’s a fresher attitude and I’ve got a better support team around me,” he said. “We’ve had the assistant captains appointed for over a year and we are just a little bit more prepared than we were in 2012. I think we can handle any situation better – if we get four ahead or two behind or whatever, we’ve got a little bit more figured out.”

And while he thinks he was slightly taken out of context about his comment that his team were the “greatest ever assembled” he isn’t backing down.

“I was asked what I would tell my team, and I said I would tell them they’re the best ever assembled,” he said. “Because that’s what the top coaches will tell their team; it wasn’t how do you rank this team in history, it is what will you tell them to fire them up. You don’t say, ‘you’re an average team, go out and give it your best shot.’

“It’s unfortunate that got misconstrued. Obviously that and the other comment about the European team (Johnny Miller’s about them being the worst of recent times) is not what this is all about.

“Darren and I have talked about both of those things, and it’s just part of the Ryder Cup. They’re happy, we’re happy.”

Phil Mickelson: ‘I like the way he thinks and I like his planning,” says the captain.