Mickelson hails leadership after US defeat

United States veteran Phil Mickelson has backed the leadership of the team despite the crushing Ryder Cup defeat to Europe.

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, Ryder Cup.

Phil Mickelson (centre) and Tiger Woods were in reflective mood after the US team's Ryder Cup loss. (AAP)

United States veteran Phil Mickelson praised the leadership of the team despite their crushing defeat to Europe at Le Golf National.

In stark contrast to the last time he sat in a press conference as part of a losing team at Gleneagles in 2014, the 48-year-old was nothing but positive about Jim Furyk and his backroom staff.

That was a significantly different situation to four years ago when Mickelson hung out to dry then captain Tom Watson, sitting just a couple of seats away, by delivering a withering criticism of his management skills.

Speaking on Sunday, Mickelson said: "This is an awesome team and we had phenomenal leadership. We had great vice-captains and we were put as players in a position to succeed.

"These guys up here are such great players that if you put these players in a position to succeed, they most often will."

Mickelson's criticism in 2014 centred around players not being consulted about the decision-making process and led, in part, to the establishment of America's much-vaunted Ryder Cup task force.

The left-hander believes those principles are still in force and backed the USA to get better in future.

"We'll continue to build on it, and improve in a couple of years. This is a very meaningful, special team for me, personally, too, because our captain is one of, I think, the best people in golf and somebody that I've always looked up to and cherished our friendship," he added.

Furyk became the sixth consecutive American leader to preside over a losing team in Europe but he was magnanimous in defeat.

"Thomas (Bjorn) was a better captain, and their team out-played us," Furyk said, surrounded by the 12 players on his team at a glum news conference.

"He did a good job. When a team is successful, as they were and as well as they played, that shows to me they had great leadership.

"I know everyone on this table wishes they had played better, and I wish I probably would have done some things differently, as well, but at the end of the day we did the best we could and we all worked hard."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world
Mickelson hails leadership after US defeat | SBS News