Davis Love III has to be feeling great about his Ryder Cup Team’s victory over Team Europe.
He was the hand picked leader of the Ryder Cup Task Force who wanted Love to have a second chance at a win to make amends for his 2012 team that threw away a four point lead going into the final day.
Instrumental in his being named captain was Phil Mickelson who was also instrumental in the creation of the Task Force with his criticism of 2014 captain Tom Watson.
Phil knew this week was a referendum on him personally and his behind the scenes molding of this Ryder Cup Team.
If this team failed the finger would be pointed in his direction and he even admitted to being “the most nervous” he ever was as the golf started on Friday.
He started this week with an indictment of former captain Hal Sutton for pairing him with Tiger Woods on short notice. Quickly, he tried to apologize but the toothpaste was out of the tube and he was left looking like a man still carrying an ax to grind.
More drama wasn’t what he needed but that’s Phil, never holding back.
He has made his mark with the Task Force on the future of the American Ryder Cup and today he made his mark on the history books.
His up and down week finished with a crescendo on Sunday with a singles match that some are hailing as the best scoring round by a twosome in Ryder Cup history.
Hazeltine National Golf Club had been set up all week for birdies. The PGA of America really doesn’t care about par or protecting their image. They want birdies and birdies they got.
Mickelson and his opponent, Sergio Garcia combined for 19 birdies and each scored a nine under 63 under Sunday Ryder Cup pressure.
Sergio got it going with a birdie at the first and then they matched birds at the second. Phil would go on to birdie the third, fourth, fifth, seventh, twelfth, fourteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth. Ten total birdies in all and he had a lone bogey at the eleventh.
Sergio went on to birdie five, sixth, ten, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen and eighteen (9 in all) and the match ended in a half point for each team.
Phil said afterwards that it only seemed right that such great play by both players would be rewarded with a draw.
But this Ryder Cup was anything but a draw for Mickelson. It was a resounding win not only for his team and his play on the course but for all the work he did in molding the new American Ryder Cup process.
At the press conference he stated that this wasn’t just about this year but hopefully for the future Ryder Cups to come.
This is a new foundation on which to build a new American Ryder Cup legacy.
And that, along with his brilliant round of golf have made this one historic Ryder Cup for Phil Mickelson.
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