After two decades of European dominance in the Ryder Cup, the Americans have created a task force to figure out why they keep losing.
Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among 11 players, captains and PGA of America officials who were appointed to the "Ryder Cup Task Force" that will look at everything from qualifications to captain's picks and even practice schedules during the matches.
Europe has won the Ryder Cup eight of the last 10 times, including a comfortable victory last month at Gleneagles that was remembered as much for Mickelson indirectly criticising US captain Tom Watson's leadership style in the closing press conference.
"This is a great step by the PGA to accomplish what we all want - to win the Ryder Cup," Woods said in a statement issued Tuesday by the PGA of America.
Woods has played on only one winning team in his seven Ryder Cup appearances. Mickelson (10 appearances) and Jim Furyk (nine) have played on only two winning teams. The other players are Steve Stricker, an assistant captain at Gleneagles, and Rickie Fowler, who has yet to win a match in his two Ryder Cups.
The former captains are Davis Love III, Tom Lehman and Raymond Floyd. None captained a winning team.
This year's Ryder Cup ended with an awkward news conference in which Mickelson - beside Watson - praised the success of Paul Azinger in 2008 in the most recent US victory and suggested that Watson didn't embrace that winning formula.
In the aftermath of the loss, various reports painted a picture of a heavy-handed leadership style in the US team that brought even more attention to the loss.
The task force does not include Azinger, who said on Monday it was too soon after the Ryder Cup. Azinger said he has a private meeting already scheduled with the PGA of America within the next month.
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