What happens in the team room stays in the team room. A notable exception occurred Sunday after the United States had lost another Ryder Cup to Europe, its eighth defeat in the last 10 meetings, 16.5 - 11.5.
Tom Watson, the last US captain to experience success on foreign soil, in 1993, and also the latest to suffer defeat, sat in the middle of the dais, flanked by his 12 players.
Five players sat between Watson and Phil Mickelson, a 10-time participant in the biennial event, who made himself comfortable at the far right side of the table. The positioning was symbolic.
Presumably Watson’s right-hand man, Mickelson decidedly was not.
After being benched for both sessions on Saturday, the first time he had sat out an entire day of the competition, Mickelson had a lot of time - maybe too much - to ponder what had gone wrong.
Watson (65) had come across all week as estranged from his team, and as he joined his players for the final time, just how great the divide was became painfully clear. The airing of the team-room toxins started innocently enough, with a question posed to Mickelson, who had been on the last victorious American team, in 2008.
What had worked then, and what hadn’t worked since?
Mickelson, who scored a 3-and-1 victory over Stephen Gallacher in the Sunday singles, mentioned the pod system installed by the 2008 captain Paul Azinger.
Players were divided into small groups that ate, roomed and practiced together, the better to form a bond.
“So we were invested in the process,” Mickelson said, adding, “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 stared ahead.
The wan smile on his face did not reach his eyes.
Hunter Mahan, seated next to Mickelson, looked at him out of the corner of his eye. At the other end of the table, Bubba Watson sat with his arms crossed on his chest. Other players stared at their cuticles or shifted in their seats.
Their fidgeting became more pronounced after a reporter told Mickelson that his comments sounded “like a pretty brutal destruction of the leadership that’s gone on this week.”
Mickelson’s eyes widened, and he said: “Oh, I’m sorry you’re taking it that way. I’m just talking about what Paul Azinger did to help us play our best.”
He added, “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 and try to replicate that formula.”
That didn’t happen here?
“Uh, no,” Mickelson said. “No, nobody here was in any decision.”
Watson was asked what he thought of Mickelson’s remarks, and the room grew so still, it was as if even the air had stopped circulating.
“I had a different philosophy as far as being a captain of this team,” he said. “You know, it takes 12 players to win. It’s not pods. It’s 12 players.”
Or, it appeared, 12 angry men.
Asked if he perceived Mickelson as disloyal, Watson said: “Not at all. He has a difference of opinion. That’s OK. My management philosophy is different than his.”
By now, the other 11 players on the podium looked as if they were watching a tennis match, with their heads turning from Mickelson to whichever reporter had the floor. There were a few nervous glances from players in Watson's direction, but no one seized the microphone to speak in his defense. Ted Bishop, the PGA of America president, who had the idea to bring Watson back as captain, was in the audience, not on the dais.
He also remained silent.
Jim Furyk, who lost his singles match, one-down, to Sergio Garcia, the same as in 2012, was drawn into the fray when he was asked his opinion of "the back and forth between Phil and Tom."
Furyk said, “Gee, thanks.” He laughed. “Just sitting over here minding my own business.”
By “over here,” Furyk, a nine-time Cup participant, meant in the farthest seat to Watson’s left. As Furyk was carefully considering his next words, Mickelson interjected, saying to the reporter: “I don’t think the premise of your question is very well stated. I don’t think that this has been back and forth.”
Thrust into the role of peacemaker, Furyk, 44, said: “I think that I have a lot of respect for both gentlemen. I’ve known Phil my entire life. Since I was 16, I’ve competed against him. He’s one of my dearest friends on the PGA Tour. And I have a lot of respect for our captain. I know he put his heart and soul in it for two years.”
He added that he wished he knew why the United States kept failing even though its players were trying so hard to succeed.
“If I could put my finger on it,” he said, “I would have changed this” - he used an expletive - “a long time ago, but we haven’t, and we are going to keep searching.”
Earlier, a reporter began a question to Mickelson by saying, "You seem to know the strategy for winning the Ryder Cup, " but Mickelson didn't let him finish.
“Oh, no, no, I’ve been on eight losing teams,” he said, laughing. “I’m only reflecting on the one time in the last 15 years that we’ve won and what allowed us to do that; make no mistake.”
Someday, Mickelson allowed, he would like to be a captain, but not anytime soon.
“I intend to keep making this team as a player,” he said.
At the end of the news conference, the players filed out to vehicles waiting to whisk them to the clubhouse. It wasn’t 12 players and 12 carts, but it was close. Watson slipped into the seat of a cart driven by Bishop, and they disappeared into the dark, chilly night.
New York Times
