Mickelson questions Watson’s style
GLENEAGLES, Scotland — U.S. captain Tom Watson suffered a pair of defeats yesterday at the Ryder Cup — first from the Europeans, and then from Phil Mickelson.
In a subtle dig at Watson’s leadership style, Mickelson said the Americans have strayed from the formula that Paul Azinger brought to the 2008 team at Valhalla, the only time since 1999 that the Americans have won the Ryder Cup.
Mickelson said Azinger “got everybody invested in the process.”
“We all do the best that we can and we’re all trying our hardest,” Mickelson said. “I’m just looking back at what gave us the most success. Because we use that same process in the Presidents Cup, and we do really well. Unfortunately, we have strayed from a winning formula in 2008 for the last three Ryder Cups, and we need to consider maybe getting back to that formula that helped us play our best.”
As Mickelson spoke, Watson sat just six seats away from him, with an empty stare. He effectively was getting called out for his leadership, which was more single-minded than Azinger in 2008, or even Davis Love III two years ago at Medinah.
Mickelson didn’t see it as a “brutal destruction of leadership,” as one reporter suggested.
“You asked me what I thought we should do going forward to bring our best golf out, and I go back to when we played our best golf,” Mickelson said.
His comments drew an icy response from others.
Former European captains Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo said that Mickelson should have kept his thoughts to himself.
“Should we go into this one hour after we’ve been defeated? The answer is a flat no,” said Montgomerie, who captained Europe to victory at Celtic Manor in 2010. “You support your captain under all circumstances. In public, you respect and honor your captain.”
Faldo, a losing captain in 2008 when Azinger, achieved success with his “pod” system of four groups of three players who practiced and played together, agreed.
“Phil certainly doesn’t respect Tom Watson,” Faldo said. “He threw his captain right under the bus.”
Watson defended his approach:
“I had a different philosophy as far as being a captain of this team,” he said. “It takes 12 players to win. It’s not pods, it’s 12 players. Yes, I did talk to the players, but my vice captains were very instrumental in making decisions as to whom to pair with.”
As for Mickelson being disloyal, Watson said only that he “has a difference of opinion. That’s OK. My management philosophy is different than his.”
Dig at Faldo
Sergio Garcia said he is “willing to forgive” Faldo for making critical comments about his performance in the 2008 Ryder Cup. But he’s not ready to let the matter lie.
In the team media conference, Lee Westwood was asked what made Paul McGinley such a great European captain.
“He cherry-picked from captains he played under, and spoke to other captains,” Westwood said, making reference to Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sam Torrance. That’s when Garcia butted in. “Do you think he talked to Faldo?” he said, sparking roars of laughter among European team members and reporters.
Faldo, who captained Europe in 2008, said in a television commentary last week that Garcia was “useless” and had a “bad attitude” at Valhalla.