Tom Watson ripped into US team at Saturday night team meeting

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muttleee

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It seems Lefty's comments at the Ryder Cup press conference were a direct response to Tom Watson's poor attitude at what was supposed to be a team bonding session on Saturday night. Sources say that Watson:

- took no responsibility for any problems
- scoffed at a gift that the U.S. team members gave him
- ridiculed several European team players
- criticised the Americans' play that afternoon

Hard to believe that a gent like TW would behave that way but the article seems to have it on good authority. Full story here: http://espn.go.com/golf/rydercup14/...eam-ryder-cup-meeting-angering-phil-mickelson
 
The gift was a replica ryder cup trophy. That must be some kind of joke...?

They're basically saying. We can't be bothered to get you the real thing. Not surprised Watson thought it was ****.
 
just looks like trying to find a scape goat for the loss. you can dress a pig up which ever way you like but at the end of the day they played sheer hite in the Sat foursomes;)
 
I like Tom Watson but for some reason he does come across to me that he could be a bit of an grumpy old so and so and this wouldn't surprise me.
 
Also doesn't surprise me

Only have to look at the way he was in the press conferences before hand

Never liked him much and could never understand the overreaction to him being this wonderful person.

IMO was a poor desperate choice as Captain
 
At his age i think you're bound to be out of touch with the generation of golfers in the team! He did come across pretty grumpy in some of the on course interviews I saw and I wasn't sure that his post match speech at the closing ceremony was delivered well either, he didn't seem to say how well his team had performed, which, even if it wasn't true, is a given for the Captain to bum his team up
 
Tom's body language on the Sunday morning spoke a thousand words IMO, you could see something was off kilter. His smile was painted on and I don't recall one player showing any warmth towards him.
 
Whereas, to a man, every Euro player waxed lyrically about their captain at every opportunity. Watson was a very poor choice...and as for the vice captains....ooft! They were that cast of Cocoon.
 
Paints a very different picture now after reading that. Im pretty sure this wont be the last we hear about this.
 
Watson may well have told his team they 'sucked,' and that they needed to up their game. Guess what, they did play poorly. Was he supposed to give them a cuddle? Did he dismiss the gift, or did he say he'd prefer the real thing - media spin? Were some of his decisions questionable? Without a doubt, but hindsight never gets it wrong.

Is the US PGA partly to blame for hanging on to a template that clearly isn't good enough? It sure needs looking at.

But what about the responsibility that the players must shoulder? Some of those players have played in a number of Ryder Cups, often losing. The common denominator is the players. If players at that level can't motivate themselves...

Patrick Reed was interviewed by 5Live, and was asked did Tom Watson get it wrong. All credit to the guy for not criticising his Captain, even if he felt differently, and saying that it was the players that let Tom Watson down by not rising to the challenge. As for Mickleson, he was a dork when he was younger, and did a great job of learning how to behave in front of the media. Pity he spoilt it last week by reverting to the whining, sniping classless idiot he is.
 
Can't verify it but I have heard that Mickelson was informed that he was being "benched" by text.

If true that is hardly conducive to fostering good team-spirit.
 
Paul McGinley even admitted to putting his own golf schedule on hold for two years during his captaincy. He would contact and even visit his players regularly. So for the European team to gush over their captain was no surprise.

Tom Watson just didn't have that connection with his team, at all.
 
I always take these reports with a large pinch of salt as there's usually a degree of media spin to make a story out of it. I would find it hard to think Watson would be so dismissive of any gift given by the team, especially in front of them and their wives. However I don't find it so strange or surprising that he was unhappy with the team performance especially in the foursomes. It was conducted in the team room which would seem to be the ideal place to do it.

The players were culpable and at the end of the day whatever you think of the team selections, the players chosen didn't perform. He can't control that and they weren't good enough. I do think he came across as uncomfortable with everything in the press conferences and maybe in hindsight he wasn't the talisman everyone thought he'd be but they all had two years to get use to the idea. I still get the feeling he's being hung out to dry a bit for the shortcomings
 
Tom Watson didn't win what he won by being a gent, behind closed doors he will be as ruthless as they come, why shouldn't he get ripped into his team???? That's what good managers do, they were stinking in the foursomes, 1 point out of 8!!!!! Disgraceful- entirely within his right to rip them to bits and say what he said.
As for the mock ryder cup thing, Jesus h Christ!! No wonder he went nuts a fake ryder cup on the eve of the singles, talk about a defeatist attitude. Tom Watson is a winner, winners don't do replicas. I mind Graeme souness being beaten in a final and throwing his second place medal in the bin. When asked why he done it he simply replied "I don't collect losers medals" ruthless!!
As for mickleson, for him to say what he did means to me there must have been a huge barney behind the scenes, he's never gave anyone both barrels like that before sitting next to them in a interview has he??? Something must have rattled his cage big style for him To do what he done
 
HomerJSimpson said:
The players were culpable and at the end of the day whatever you think of the team selections, the players chosen didn't perform. He can't control that and they weren't good enough.
Click to expand...
Makes you wonder why a team which is always stronger on paper continually underperforms in this one event? Players can't make themselves play well...if they could, all top pros would be shooting 63 every round and they obviously aren't. However I suspect that happy, contented, committed players are more likely to play better than those who are annoyed or feel under-valued etc. The margins between winning and losing can be tiny so even the smallest thing the captain can do to make his players feel more confident can make a difference. The European team were a picture of bliss and contentment compared to the Americans last week but I can't help wondering hypothetically what the result would've been if McGinley had captained the Americans and Watson the Europeans. I personally wouldn't be confident of a European win in that situation. The captain must make a difference.

Just look at the way Tony Jacklin transformed European fortunes when he took over the captaincy. He had to use pretty much the same players as before but he gave them a belief and a pride in themselves that they'd lacked up until that point. His professionalism and motivation made a huge difference to team morale and the results soon started to improve. He said recently that, "it was about making the players feel as comfortable as possible." Successive European captains have taken the same approach...can any American captains say they've done the same? It certainly looks like Watson can't.
 
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