PhOtOs-Love III Officially Named 2016 Team USA Ryder Cup Captain
 

Ryder Cup US Team Announces New Captain Structure


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Davis Love III was officially named the 2016 Team USA Ryder Cup captain on Tuesday. With the news came word of the adjustments Love and the U.S. task force are making to try to level the playing field with Europe.


Golf Central has the details of some of the tweaks being made, with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and other officials forming a think tank of sorts to tackle the USA's Ryder Cup travails



But as that questionably authentic ancient Italian maxim goes, "He who is resistant to change is destined to perish."

The Americans have to do something to get out of their perpetual Ryder Cup funk, which abated only in 2008 amid an anomalous triumph at Valhalla with Paul Azinger as captain.

Likable, swagger-filled players such as the AWOL Anthony Kim, who made such a profound impact on that 2008 squad, are lacking on the U.S. side as of late. Reigning FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel fits the bill, but he didn't make the 2014 Ryder Cup cut.

Todd Lewis of Golf Channel analyzed one of the fresh changes in that context:


Camaraderie, an absence of controversy and uncrushable confidence have allowed Team Europe to dominate. Save for the spell of 2008, it has held the Ryder Cup since 2002.
Love even alluded to how Europe appears to be in great shape with Darren Clarke at the helm in 2016, via Golf Digest's Ron Sirak:



For whatever it's worth, Love has the evident passion to get the Americans back on track—which has to be fed at least in part due to his past in the international event

The last time Love was captain came in 2012, when the meltdown at Medinah occurred and Team USA blew a huge Sunday singles lead. At least that team was close to winning. The key is for Love to find a way to spark his next team to get over the hump, as that year and even 2010 were decided by just one point.

It's easy to overthink anything in golf. For whatever reason, Team Europe doesn't seem to need any extra preparation to jell together and emerge victorious despite the relatively even talent pool on both sides.
At least the U.S. is trying in earnest to shift the recent trend of Ryder Cup failures. As important as it is to choose the best possible players, infusing the team with the right personalities to nurture chemistry is just as important.

Love will get his shot to redeem falling just short the last time around—with an unprecedented amount of help and resources at his disposal. Whether it amounts to any true change will be decided on the course beginning on September 30, 2016, in Chaska, Minnesota.