BRIAN WHITCOMB
Honorary President, PGA of America and PGA Director of Golf
Lost Tracks Golf Club, Bend, Oregan.
It is critical to pair players well, then get out of their way and provide good counsel when needed.
Q. Having seen Paul Azinger operate at close quarters during his Ryder Cup captaincy at Valhalla last year what lessons have you learned that you can apply to your PGA Cup captaincy?
A. What I witnessed was how Paul was very aware of not over-coaching. It was critical to pair players well, then get out of their way and provide good counsel when needed. The other thing that I learned was the type of players to pair. The pairings become so important that you have to work in matching what best skills each player may have along with their personalities. I believe that through such observations watching Paul that I will work to accomplish the above and just tell our players to go out and have some fun. It is important that players stay loose and have fun.
Q. America is a huge country, what is the secret to moulding a successful team with players coming from all corners of the USA?
A. I would like to turn it around and believe that golf is actually a very small circle. We all have a commonality, have been around each other at various times of the year or in the past and it lends itself to some bonding already among us. For the players who will be making their PGA Cup debut, the impact of the opening ceremony, the raising of the flags of each country will be enough to transmit how huge an event this is for them. They will realise as our veterans have realised on this team that there is a commitment to the fact that you are playing for pride and playing for our great country.
Q. What do you think you will bring to the captaincy role?
A. I have been around most of the players for years, and those I don't know as well, I have seen how they have competed and reacted under pressure in our (PGA Professional) National Championship and the USPGA Championship. I also have had the opportunity to play with a lot of the players over the years in our National Championship (pro-ams). They know how much I respect their abilities, and I feel that it is special to know that they have a sense of what I'm about and will play hard for their Captain.