Have No Fear, the U.S. Ryder Cup Task Force Is Here

The United States has lost eight of the past 10 Ryder Cup matches, including a 16 ½ - 11 ½ thrashing just last month at Gleneagles.

But have no fear.

The PGA of America recently announced that it has assembled a task force that includes the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Raymond Floyd, Steve Stricker and Rickie Fowler to try to figure out how to reverse this losing trend.

So, we can all rest easy.

After all, what better way to figure out how to make more birdies than by creating a task force?

While it is clear that the PGA of America needed to be seen as taking some form of action after yet another embarrassing Ryder Cup loss, the fact of the matter is that there is very little that can be accomplished with a task force.

Can this task force make the European Tour agree to change the format of the matches from stroke play to medal play?

Perhaps Mickelson can talk the European Tour into spotting the American side four points before the matches even begin.  

Maybe Rickie Fowler can come to some sort of arrangement with Rory McIlroy where the two agree not to attend another match throughout the remainder of their careers. After all, that would certainly be an equal loss for both teams.

Perhaps Woods can convince the European Tour to bring back a long-lost eligibility requirement from the 1930s and 1940s where all European team members (Great Britain team members at that time) not only had to be born on European soil, but they also had to reside in Europe and play the European Tour full time. That would certainly exclude 90 percent of the current European team from competing in the next Ryder Cup and give the Americans a legitimate chance at victory.

But all joking aside, the fact of the matter is that very little can or will be changed through the creation of this high-profile task force.

There are really only three areas that the task force can legitimately address:

1. The closing of the qualification window, as well as the date for the captains' selections, could be moved back a few weeks.
2. New ways of selecting captains could be discussed, which could potentially include keeping successful captains in place for multiple Ryder Cup matches.
3. There could be some input on just how many selections each captain should be awarded.

But aside from these rather insignificant changes, what does the PGA of America actually hope to accomplish with this task force?

The Europeans have had essentially the exact same selection structure in place as the Americans for the past two decades.

The Europeans announce their next captain around the same time as the American side.

Their qualifying window for the European team closes at the exact same time as it does for the American side.

Captains' picks are announced by both teams on the exact same day.

And as far as anyone knows, both teams are using equipment that is perfectly legal under the rules of the Ryder Cup matches.

Yet, the Europeans have somehow managed to win eight out of the last 10 Ryder Cup matches without the creation of a task force.  

So it is no wonder that several of the European Team members poked fun at the PGA of America’s decision to create a task force to figure out how to win future Ryder Cup matches.

Jack Nicklaus even weighed in on the matter, calling the task force “overkill,” as reported by Brian Biggane of The Palm Beach Post.

At the end of the day, there is really only one thing that can turn the tide for the Americans, and that is to play better golf.

Make more putts.

Make more birdies.

And win more points.

Stop complaining about the decisions of the captains.

Stop complaining about the uniform selection.

Stop whining about not being able to play with your friends.

And simply play better golf.

So does the PGA of America really need to assemble a task force to come to the ultimate conclusion that in order to win future Ryder Cup matches, the American team merely needs to play better golf than the Europeans?

Because despite all of the hoopla and distractions surrounding these matches, it comes down to nothing more than which team plays better golf.

And unfortunately for the Americans, no task force, no matter how star-studded that task force may be, can make the Americans go out and play better golf than a deeper and more talented European team.

The real task force should probably be comprised of television executives and marketing geniuses to figure out how in the world they are going to get anyone to watch these matches after a few more beatdowns by the Europeans.