Fred Couples: Picking next Ryder Cup captain not a difficult task

Sitting on the dais after completing his pro-am round at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship at Desert Mountain Golf Course on Wednesday, Fred Couples explained why he doesn't think captaining a Ryder Cup team is all that hard. Not that he's done it.

With the U.S. team having lost six of the past seven Ryder Cups and the PGA of America creating an 11-man task force to right the ship, Couples' name has been thrown out as a potential captain.

The 55-year-old is definitely interested, but also thinks everyone is overreacting to American failures in the event.

"I don't think anyone should panic. I don't think we need a 'task force,'" Couples said, employing air quotes. "I don't think we need the PGA of America straining about this. What I really think they need is to get players that have been on a lot of these teams to get a feel for what kind of captain they need."

Tom Watson captained the last U.S. Ryder Cup team, and was put under a harsh spotlight after the loss when team member Phil Mickelson said that none of the team's 12 players was consulted on any decisions made during the competition.

Couples is hesitant to throw Watson under the bus, but he also said he had no problem with how Mickelson got his point across. Couples said he thought Watson didn't "cradle his boys enough, and that's what they need."

He also said he would have played Mickelson, whom he called "the best guy on every team I've ever been on," on Saturday of the competition. Instead, Mickelson was one of four golfers who sat.

Couples believes he's a good candidate for captain because he's "just another guy," a point echoed by Champions Tour colleague Jay Haas.

"He would be great in the dugout in a no-hitter," Haas said. "He would just have everybody at ease whether he was saying anything or not saying anything."

Couples has captained three Presidents Cup teams since 2009, but considers that an easier task since every golfer gets to play. Despite being popular in the golf world and the leading candidate to lead the U.S. team in the 2016 Ryder Cup, Couples wasn't invited to join the task force.

Scottsdale resident and 2012 Schwab Cup Championship winner Tom Lehman, himself a former Ryder Cup captain, is on the task force. He prefers to be mum on what he sees as necessary tweaks.

He does believe in expanding the conversation beyond the task force's 11 members, though.

"If we wanted to bring in former players and current players to have them air it all out, to have a frank discussion about golf course setup and course selection, we'll do that," Lehman said. "Everything, I was told, was on the table, which is the reason why I'm interested in being a part of it."

He might want to speak with Couples, then. Despite saying that everyone is panicking over the recent run of poor results for the U.S., Couples seems filled to the brim with potential tweaks.

One would be to allow every golfer the same opportunity to play. Another would be greater player input into who is named captain. A third, which is also a longtime desire of Lehman's, would be smarter course selection when the Cup is held in the U.S., favoring courses that the American players play often and are familiar with.

A fourth — pivoting away from the term "task force" — may not find much traction.

"How about the PGA Ryder Cup Committee, can I say that?" Couples joked. "That sounds way better."

Extreme measure or not, if the goal of the task force is to widen the discussion as to how the U.S. operates with regard to the Ryder Cup, there are few who see that as a bad move.

Though it may result in the end of the European team's dominance, Colin Montgomerie — one of the more-decorated Ryder Cup golfers of all time and a former European captain — sees it as a step in the right direction.

"I think it's good that the players are now beginning to have more of a say in what happens and the selection processes and what have you than just one particular body," Montgomerie said.

Then he smiled.

"Was that diplomatic?" he asked. "That was bloody good, that was."