Ryder Cup Team Visit ‘Patriots’ Stadium & With Mickelson Identifying USA Team Fault.

9 years ago by Comments Off on Ryder Cup Team Visit ‘Patriots’ Stadium & With Mickelson Identifying USA Team Fault.

TPC Boston, MA … Members of the 2016 USA Ryder Cup team along with a number of players in line for ‘wildcard’ selection visited the nearby New England Patriots Stadium on Wednesday night.

When Phil Mickelson spoke of the experience of visiting the stadium following today’s Deutsche Bank Pro-Am he joked that the visit had led to the USA Team identifying a big fault ahead of their showdown against the rival Europeans on September 30th at Hazeltine.

And this was after Mickelson won the ‘nearest to the pin’ contest hitting a right-handed wedge to about four inches to a makeshift green and pin set up on the stadium pitch and with USA Ryder Cup vice-captain, Tom Lehman instrumental in setting-up the visit.

“I hit this 60-degree wedge from 80 yards so it was not like it was rocket science but I do feel like it identified a weakness in the US Team that we need to focus on in next four weeks because if I am hitting it right-handed inside of the other guys, well,” said Mickelson.

“But then we have time to fix it, so it’s not an issue.

“Seriously, it was really good night and Mr. Kraft was very generous with his time and allowing us to be there while we had some great video messages Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski and coach Bill Belichick and they were really good but then one of the best speeches I have ever heard came from Mike Eruzione (Captain, 198o USA Olympic Gold Medal winning men’s ice hockey team) and that was very inspirational and for him to share his moment from 1980 and what it meant to hockey and the country was a very cool moment.

“I remember watching, and I was only 10 at the time, the team win and while I didn’t grasp all the variables that were going on at the time but I do now and last night was pretty special.”

And being a San Diego Chargers fan, Mickelson spoke of his ‘joy’ in wearing a rival New England Patriots outfit.

“I am a Chargers but to be there wearing a Patriots Superbowl champions jersey on with four victories was a great feeling,” he said.

“But then coming back here to TPC Boston this week is also a good feeling for me as I won here in 2007 while the golf course itself is one of the best we play and to have it as one of the FedEx Cup venues is exciting as I try to put it all together this week.”

And when Mickelson was asked if a night of team ‘bonding’ at the nearby New England Patriots home ground can lead to a USA triumph later this month at Hazeltine he remarked:  “It was just a great fun night and it’s just fun for us to hang out together in a non-competitive function than when we normally see each other. So it was really a fun deal.”

 

 



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