Triple winning Wyndham Championship winner Davis Love 111 insists as USA Team captain he would compete in next year’s Ryder Cup should he finish among the leading three Hazeltine qualifiers.
Love 111 at 51-years of age became third oldest winner on the PGA Tour in shooting a final round 64 and win by a stroke with a 17-under par tally on the Sedgefield Country Club course in suburban Greensboro, North Carolina.
It was also Love 111’s 21st Tour victory and what he later described as one of the ‘sweetest’ after being struck down in recent years with injury.
The 2016 USA Ryder Cup qualifying process has been in place since March earlier this but with only the Majors and WCG events counting, and it will not be to January 1st next year that regular PGA Tour events such as the Wyndham will count.
Davis Love 111 captures a third Wyndham Championship and then reveals he will compete in the 2016 Ryder Cup should he finish among the top-three Hazeltine qualifiers. (Photo – www.pgatour.com)
However after discussions among members of the U.S. team task force, set-up in the wake of Phil Mickelson’s controversial comments last September and moments after the USA Team lost out by five points to Europe, Love 111 revealed a plan is in place should he qualify automatically for his own 2016 side.
“Yes, I definitely would play if I finished top two or three among the qualifiers for sure,” said Love.
“That’s why we have guys like Tom Lehman on the task force and others waiting in the wings to help should that scenario arise.
“But then if I had of been asked that question heading into the 2012 Ryder Cup then we could not have been set-up for that.
“However now with this task force we are set up for anything that happens such as if Davis plays great and he makes the team or has something happen to him and he can’t be there.
“So we’ve got everything covered now and Tom’s just not an assistant captain waiting for the next year’s FedEx Cup Play-Offs waiting to decide who is going to get a pick, as he is working now on every scenario that may arise.
“And guys like Tiger (Woods) and Phil (Mickelson) along with Steve Stricker on the task force means that we are all into it now.
“So let’s say if I was to be among the top two or three qualifiers around this time next year then we would have someone to step into to fill the Captain’s role.”
If Love 111 were to qualify he would be the first captain since Arnold Palmer earned four out of a possible six points in leading his side to a 14 points victory over a Great Britain and Ireland team at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta in the 1963 Ryder Cup.
