by Jeff Skinner
Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III wasted no time in trying to get his mind off his teams difficult defeat at Medinah last week. Love got back on the course at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas but the rest of the golf world is still speculating who will replace the one and done Love.
Ron Sirak has a great article in Golf Digest where he wonders who will be next on the chopping block for the American. He mentions everyone from golfers (Couples, Nelson, etc) to coaches Butch Harmon, Mike Krzyzewski and Bill Belichick and even throws in a few former Presidents, Clinton and Bush Jr. for consideration in his out of the box essay.
But he raises a valid point. Why does the captain have to be a golfer? He doesn’t golf, he manages the team. He leads the team. He motivates the team. He does everything but swing a club so maybe the esteemed Mr. Sirak is on to something here.
Butch Harmon would be great and Nick Watney wouldn’t have to worry about not being a captain’s pick. It would be fun watching Bill Belichick work with all the media surrounding the Ryder Cup. Heck, we wouldn’t even know who his captain’s picks are until the first tee. But since these guys likely wouldn’t want to work for free maybe we need to look elsewhere.
I saw two guys going at it like Europe vs. USA at the debates the other night so why not consider President Obama and Governor Romney for a captains slot. One of them is bound to be unemployed in 2014 and maybe looking to keep busy.
Obama would have a natural advantage over Romney because he plays the game but that didn’t work to well for Davis so maybe it’s not that big an advantage. Obama can motivate people, well about 53% of them anyway. And he knows how to spend money overseas and the Ryder Cup isn’t cheap. He could really make it a bipartisan cup if he gets Speaker of the House and avid (and good) golfer John Boehner as his assistant captain.
Romney doesn’t play golf but he ran the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Committee so that’s close enough. He also ran Bain Capital which generated millions and millions in profits and the PGA of America loves profits. He also has experience with financial matters overseas but unlike Obama he doesn’t spend it there. He hides it there.
Romney might suggest that we play the cup in Bermuda, that’s kind of British right, where he has some corporations holding his money. Or for a tropical Ryder Cup he could host a match in the Cayman Islands. Rumor has it there are a few Romney accounts there also. But if the Euros insist he would gladly make the trip to Switzerland and play there while checking his Swiss bank accounts.
So maybe after one of these guys are sent packing in November the PGA of America would consider Romney or Obama. One of them is bound to have some time on his hands.
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