Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson Comment on Team USA's Defeat at 2014 Ryder Cup

As the United States gives its postmortem on yet another Ryder Cup defeat, there seem to be differing opinions on the strategy employed by captain Tom Watson. And those differing opinions are coming from Watson and his players.      

Speaking after his 3-and-1 victory over Stephen Gallacher, Phil Mickelson not-so-indirectly threw shade his captain's way by wondering aloud why the U.S. went away from the strategy Paul Azinger employed in 2008.     

"We had a great formula in '08 and I don't know why we strayed from it," Mickelson told reporters. "I don't know why we don't even try going back to it. But what Zinger [Paul Azinger] did was really a good formula. And maybe we ought to re-invent something like that."

The 2008 Ryder Cup, of course, was the last time the United States took home the trophy. Europe closed out its third straight victory on Sunday, earning 6.5 points in the 12 singles matches for a 16.5-11.5 romp. 

As ESPN.com's Bob Harig noted, Azinger came up with an unconventional "pod" method of pre-tournament training in order to find the right pairings. He "put his 12 players into three groups of four prior to the event and kept them together through practice rounds and into the matches," Harig wrote.

Watson came up with the United States' pairings himself, though many of them seemed natural on paper. Mickelson was paired with Keegan Bradley, continuing their partnership from the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club. The duo went 1-1 Friday, defeating Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia in fourball play before losing to Victor Dubuisson and Graeme McDowell in foursomes.

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Part of Mickelson's frustration with Watson possibly stems from the U.S. legend's decision to bench Lefty and Bradley for the entire Saturday session. It was the first time Mickelson had gone a full day without playing in his Ryder Cup career. At his post-day meeting with reporters, Watson admitted Mickelson privately pressed him to play but was denied. 

"He lobbied again. He texted me, he said, 'Give us a chance.' I had to tell him no," Watson told reporters. "I felt that we had the four best teams possible in the afternoon for alternate shot.''

The United States would lose 3.5-0.5 in the Saturday afternoon session. But despite some noticeable agitation on the part of players to change his strategy, Watson said he didn't regret avoiding the "pod" system, per Jason Sobel of Golf Channel:

The obvious tension between Mickelson and Watson assuredly guarantees one (or both) of them will not be returning in 2016. Mickelson has participated in the last 10 Ryder Cups, the most in history. He will be 46 years old when the event returns at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

As for the captaincy, the United States' recent policy has been to not bring guys back for a second go-round. Watson became just the seventh repeat captain in history—and his previous experience came two decades ago. Azinger, if asked, would be the first person to captain the U.S. Ryder Cup team twice within the same decade since Jack Nicklaus in 1983 and 1987.

Nonetheless, it was clear on social media that he had the support:

We'll just have to wait and see if there is mutual interest.

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