While many, including myself have criticized Tom Watson for his unprepared and detached Ryder Cup captaincy Old Tom got some support from an old friend.
Jack Nicklaus says the European Team “just played better” and he is absolutely right, they did. Nicklaus went on to say that the hits Watson is taking are undeserved.
“(The Europeans) just played better,” Nicklaus said. “It doesn’t make any difference how much planning you do, if the other team plays better, they’re going to win.”
“He went to I don’t know how many tournaments — he knew he was older, so he had to get to know the kids, who he was going to pick, and what to do. Tom, Raymond (Floyd), Andy North and Steve Stricker made the selections and pairings, did what they thought was best, and probably did a pretty good job.” 
Nicklaus also wasn’t too keen on Phil Mickelson’s takedown of Watson at the press conference. The Golden Bear also thinks the PGA of America may be going overboard naming a task force for the next Ryder Cup.
“When I had teams and guys had problems, we went back to the team room and talked about it. That’s where the conversation should be. (And) I feel the same about the task force thing. That’s sort of overkill. We’ve had 70 years of the Ryder Cup and it’s gotten along just fine. The pendulum will swing back without making a monumental thing about it.”
It is not surprising that Jack would come to the defense of his good friend Watson after all they go back a very long way. But times have changed in golf. The ball goes farther, the courses are longer, the players are stronger and a Ryder Cup Captain needs to show up with more than just a reputation.
Click here for Brian Biggane’s piece in the Palm Beach Post.
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