John Daly Wants to Captain the U.S. Ryder Cup Team One Day
By Michael Shamburger
John Daly wants to be a Ryder Cup captain one day, and I dig it. Daly, who is 49 years old, spoke to the media before his match against Paul Lawrie in the Saltire Energy Match Play in Aberdeen that, “hopefully I would one day be captain.”
"Via the Daily Mail: “Hopefully I would one day be a captain, it would be fun,” said tournament invite Daly, who is up against Spain’s Jorge Campillo at Murcar Links on Thursday. “I don’t know if I fit the mold. I don’t know if I fit what the PGA of America would want. All I know is my team, if I was a captain, we’d have a blast. I’d make sure they had a blast. You don’t want to wear a tie, don’t wear a tie. Have fun. It’s supposed to be fun. ” “I think we just get wrapped up in it. I think when you’re favored to win so many years like the Americans have been, I think we get uptight. Even the matches that we are getting killed in, we are favored in.” “I think we put too much pressure on ourselves. Just go out and play golf. It’s great to play for your country, but it’s still a gentleman’s game at the end.” "
I have absolutely no problem with Daly wanting to be Ryder Cup captain. He’s right; it would most definitely be more fun. Daly is a character on and off the course, which may cause him some issues with the PGA’s selection process, but he has a good enough record to put his name on the list. Over the course of his career, Daly has collected five PGA Tour wins, three European Tour wins, a win on the Asian Tour, and a Web.com Tour win. Daly has a Claret Jug he won at The Open Championship in 1995 and Wanamaker Trophy from his PGA Championship win in 1991. He is the only golfer from the U.S. to win two majors and not be selected to a Ryder Cup team.
"“I’m one of those guys you don’t know what the hell I’m going to do,’ he added. ‘I’m either going to piss you off or make you happy. But that’s me. I can’t deny it and that’s just the way I’ve always been.”"
Of course ahead of Daly, I’d still like to see Fred Couples as captain. Couples, who has led the U.S. President’s Cup team to three straight victories, was passed up for the 2016 Ryder Cup in favor of Davis Love III. The reason Couples was passed up? According to Jamie Diaz of Golf World, Couples “cracked under the scrutiny.” Couples only major win was the 1992 Masters, but he’s still one of the most liked guys to ever step foot on the course and was the overwhelming players’ favorite to captain the 2016 team. He has plenty of other PGA wins, and has been a part of the Ryder Cup team five times.
Whatever happens, the U.S. needs to change things up because two wins in the last 10 Ryder Cups doesn’t really represent the quality of golf that is currently being played by the young guns in this country. Hopefully Love can turn things around in 2016 at Hazeltine.
Here’s the current standings through 7/29/15.
Golf wins again.