United States' Ryder Cup captain Davis Love is assured of a hero's welcome when he returns to action in this week's Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. Love led the United States to their first victory since 2008 at Hazeltine last month, gaining sweet revenge after also being in charge during Europe's "Miracle at Medinah" in 2012.
“It was important for American golf,” said the 52-year-old, who has not played competitively since withdrawing from the Bridgestone Invitational in June and undergoing hip surgery. “We hadn’t won in a while but the guys performed great and we got the job done. People have been coming up to me since I got to Vegas congratulating me. It’s a great feeling to have been part of it.”
Love will be joined at TPC Summerlin by team members Ryan Moore, Brooks Koepka, Jimmy Walker and JB Holmes, with Moore enjoying home advantage as a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
Moore was Love’s final wild card just five days before the start of the Ryder Cup after losing a play-off to Rory McIlroy in the Tour Championship, but went on to secure the winning point by beating Lee Westwood in the singles.
“It was actually an easy call,” Love said yesterday. “Ryan was always a very good match play player and he had been playing extremely well in the weeks leading up to the Ryder Cup. He earned his spot.”
Love admits his expectations are low after such a long lay-off, but he is looking forward to competing in a city where he lost a play-off to Tiger Woods in 1996. It was the 14-time major winner's first PGA Tour title.
“I had to scramble a little to get myself into contention,” Love said. “I felt like I had momentum going into the play-off, but then I stuck it in the back bunker and that was that. Tiger called me after the Ryder Cup, and he said, ‘Do you know what today is?’ I said, ‘Friday?’ and he said, ‘Twenty years ago today’, and it all came back to me. I said, ‘I probably shouldn’t have hit that eight iron into the back bunker’, and Tiger said to me, ‘You probably should have hit driver off the tee’. I kidded him and said, ‘I made you a somebody.”’
