Fred’s hoping for a Love match at the Hazeltine Ryder Cup

Opposing Ryder Cup skippers Davis Love and Darren Clarke.

“I mean, we only play for the guy for seven days and I keep hearing that we need someone who can give his all for two years!

“And remember when they named Davis, he is not to know who will even be on his team yet, bar maybe a few of the guys.

“So the two years is really going around, going to banquets, doing interviews, having a look at the course with an eye to setting it up.

“Then maybe get the guys to go to Minnesota nearer the time – like Dave Stockton did with us at Kiawah. He did a phenomenal job because nobody had ever seen Kiawah!

“To be honest we all had a great time. I went up with LannyWadkins and Raymond Floyd and Lanny was one of my partners in the matches which we won.

“I mean you cannot promote this thing for two years, I don’t care if you are Tom Watson, Paul Azinger, or anyone else.

“I know I’m rambling on a bit here. But I’m really for the players because there is a lot of things that they love, and things they don’t like.

“They like playing, and they winning.

“What they don’t like is losing. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth because they haven’t won it for so long.

“And maybe the taste they had when Paul Azinger was the captain obviously was a good one and they liked his style.

“I believe Davis is the man for the job because the players have shown they have faith in him, and that’s essential. “They did not really have that inWatson.” The quiet, unassuming Couples admits they now need a Payne Stewart in the side.

Fred recalls with a laugh: “He really knew how to fire up the team. He went into the hallway of the team hotel at 5.30am one morning with his boombox blaring Bruce Springstein’s Born in the USA!”

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