All the U.S. needs is Love, and his experience
He is set to lead ’22 Presidents Cup team
Davis Love III is going back to where he was born for a job he knows as well as anyone.
The PGA Tour has selected Love to be U.S. captain for the Presidents Cup in 2022 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. Trevor Immelman of South Africa previously was selected to be the International team captain.
It will be the third time Love has been captain of a U.S. team in the last 10 years. He was captain when Europe rallied from a 10-6 deficit to beat the Americans in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, and he was Ryder Cup captain for a rare U.S. victory four years later at Hazeltine.
He also was an assistant captain in the Ryder Cup under Corey Pavin in 2010 and Jim Furyk in 2018 and is on the staff of Steve Stricker this year. In the Presidents Cup, he has been an assistant under Fred Couples in 2013, Jay Haas in 2015 and Stricker in 2017. He does not lack for experience.
“My history with this event dating back to 1994 conjures up indelible memories of competition, camaraderie and sportsmanship, and I’m thrilled to be leading the top American players into Quail Hollow Club next September,” Love said.
Love was born in Charlotte, though his family moved to the Atlanta area later that year. He played golf at North Carolina. Quail Hollow, which once hosted the old Kemper Open before it moved to the Washington area, has hosted the Wells Fargo Championship since 2003. Justin Thomas won the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, and it is scheduled to host the PGA Championship again in 2025.
The Presidents Cup was supposed to be played this year until the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Ryder Cup being postponed one year to this September. The Americans have won the Presidents Cup the last eight times, most recently in 2019 at Royal Melbourne with Tiger Woods as a playing captain. He chose not to captain again.
PLACE YOUR BETS: Television viewers for the Waste Management Phoenix Open can have a second-screen experience geared toward betting.
The “NBC Sports Edge BetCast” will debut on Peacock Premium alongside the telecast of the tournament on Golf Channel and NBC, which has the tournament this year because CBS is broadcasting the Super Bowl.
PointsBet is the official sports betting partner of NBC Sports, and an official betting operator of the PGA Tour.
With the 16th hole on the TPC Scottsdale as a backdrop, the show will feature live odds and betting props as it follows a feature group, with a PointsBet oddsmaker at the trading desk. All betting information will be provided exclusively by PointsBet.
“As we continue to embrace sports betting, the tour will continue to innovate and find new ways to engage fans around the world,” said Norb Gambuzza, the tour’s senior vice president of media and gaming.
MICKELSON’S FUTURE: Phil Mickelson has high hopes for the new year, even though he turned 50 last June and finished outside the top 50 on the PGA Tour money list for the first time in his long career. He even spoke of making a push to play in the Ryder Cup for the 13th consecutive time.
“But if I don’t play well early on, I’ll start to reevaluate things and maybe play a few more events on the Champions Tour,” he said on the eve of The American Express. “Because what’s fun for me is competing, getting in contention and trying to win tournaments.”
Mickelson won both times he played last year on the PGA Tour Champions.
He didn’t have much of a chance at The American Express. Mickelson made 18 pars on Friday — the first time in his career he had done that — and missed the cut by six shots.
Next up is the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in his hometown of San Diego, a tournament he has played every year but one. Mickelson is not a fan of what Rees Jones did to the South Course to prepare it for the 2008 U.S. Open. He has completed 72 holes only three of his last eight appearances.