One of newly-appointed USA Ryder Cup captain Davis Love 111s first task was to speak to renowned sports psychologist, Bob Rotella.
Rotella had worked under Love 111 in the 2012 Ryder Cup when the USA team had the victory rug pulled out from under them by an inspired Jose Maria Olazabal captained European Team.
So Love 111 has got the renowned Rotella on board ahead of the USA Team’s quest to halt of disappointing run of having lost eight of the past 10 Ryder Cup’s including the last three.
And along with engaging Rotella, Love 111 intends spending more time observing the ways of some of the leading university basketball coaches.
Renowned golf psychologist Bob Rotella and one of the first ‘signed on’ to work with the 2016 USA Ryder Cup team.
“I used Bob Rotella a little bit last time in ’12 and I’ve already talked to him about how we are going to manage this 2016 team and I’ve got him on board already to help,” said Love 111.
“He’s up working with John Calipari (Head Basketball coach, University of Kentucky, and I am going watch him work with Calipari and I am going to watch Roy Williams (Head Basketball coach, University of North Carolina) work with his team, so I am also going to watch him and I am going to learn how to coach a bit better.
“We have to tell these guys this is your opportunity to go win this Ryder Cup, and we are going to have to have to block everything else out.
“This is going to be an incredible challenge for me and Tom (Lehman) to not listen to what is going on outside. We are already going to get second-guessed why David Love again? Why Tom Lehman again and why as this is the same old thing?
Davis Love 111 intends to study the winning ways of University of North Carolina coach, Roy Williams.
“What could be different as the Americans don’t care about the Ryder Cup? How many times in the last 10 years have we heard this?
“But sitting here I can tell you that Patrick Reed was in tears when he lost a match. These guys do care. Jordan Spieth wants to be on this team and he wants to be on a winning team and he’s no different to Tom Kite when he was a rookie and when I was also a rookie, as we want to make the team.
“We want to play on winning teams and we have got to get this across to these guys as this is an opportunity for them to win this Ryder Cup and leave the past out of it.
“You don’t want to bring up the word ‘undefeated’ to the Kentucky Basketball Team right now. You want to talk about ‘hey, we want to win the last game we play this year, the National Championship game’ and getting them focused on having fun.
The late Dean Smith and former Head Basketball coach of the University of North Carolina.
“One thing I learned from Dean Smith (Former Head Coach, University of North Carolina – 1961 to 1997, and who passed away on February 7th this year), and I was lucky to hang around him a lot, and that is the importance of team unit, family and also we have a system. Just stick with your system and you are going to come out on top in the end.
“So we are going to start early and give the message to these to these guys that they are really, really good players, so just do your thing.
“So the message to the likes of Jordan Spieth now that when he gets to Hazeltine is that Jordan Spieth golf will be good enough so just play your game and leave all the other stuff behind.
“That’s the message we have to get to these guys and that is to just relax and go and play.
“It’s a simple theory and we all work on it whether it is Phil Mickelson or whoever as when we get to the Majors we try too hard.”
A proud day for the 2016 USA Ryder Cup captain Davis Love 111 with his son also winning a first college event on the same day as Love 111s Hazeltine appointment.
And Love was confirmed as the 2016 USA Captain on the same day he had to coach his son, Davis Love IV, or ‘Dru’ as he affectionately refers to him, not to win his first college event even though he did succeed in winning for a first occasion.
“My son playing in a college golf tournament today and I had to get him focused on not think about winning today because he was nervous, he was excited and I couldn’t say to him: ‘Remember the last five times you were right around the lead and you also got nervous and you made all those mistakes’,” said Love 111.
“So I found myself saying ‘here is the list of things Dru Love does well when he plays’.
“So we have to accept the past but we don’t have to bring up record so 2016 will be there opportunity to go win this next Ryder Cup.
“And it’s great I have all these people like Tom (Lehman), Phil (Mickelson) and Rickie Fowler behind me and we are now giving our eventual team the best chance to win.”
