When it comes to pressure, it is hard to imagine what Davis Love III was dealing with heading into the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine as USA looked to end a run of three European wins in a row.
The 2016 Ryder Cup was a hugely important week for Team USA. Following the calamitous performance in Scotland two years earlier, a task force was set up to try and change how the Americans prepare for the event.
It was also Davis Love III who had been at the helm when the USA were beaten at Medinah having led 10-6 heading into the final day.
So it must have been tempting to avoid any controversial decisions heading into Hazeltine. However, Love III did not shy away from a massive call.
The player Bubba Watson urged Davis Love III to pick ahead of him for the 2016 Ryder Cup
Bubba Watson ended qualification in ninth place – missing out on making the team automatically by one spot. And when Love III made his first three picks, it was JB Holmes, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar who got the call.
The final pick was made after the Tour Championship in what had become known as the Horschel rule after Billy Horschel was left out of the 2014 team despite winning the FedEx Cup. Unfortunately, that rule did not help Watson’s chances.
Ultimately, the two-time Masters champion had to settle for a vice-captaincy role. But, as he told Fore Play Golf in 2019, Watson himself was pushing for another player to get that final spot anyway.
“For me, that year, talking to the guys, being a part of the team, being asked; I was seventh in the world when I didn’t get a pick. So it’s one of them freak things where Ryan Moore top 10-ed every week four weeks in a row, four playoff events in a row. And I told captain, I said, ‘pick him. This is what the rule’s for. He’s playing unbelievable’,” he said.
“For me, it was a dream [being vice-captain]. I get to interact with everybody, and I get to help them, whatever that means. I don’t care if that’s making you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which I had to do.”
How Ryan Moore fared on his Ryder Cup debut
Moore had won the John Deere Classic that year, while he lost out in a playoff to Rory McIlroy at the Tour Championship. So he had certainly played his way into contention – and it would have made a bit of a mockery of the new rule had he not made the team.
Moore would end up playing three matches that week in Minnesota. Initially, he and Holmes lost to Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera-Bello on Friday afternoon as Europe looked to fight back from 4-0 down.
But the pair would beat Danny Willett and Lee Westwood the following afternoon as the US got themselves into that commanding position.
And it would be Moore who would write his name in Ryder Cup folklore. His victory over Westwood in the singles got Love III’s side across the line as they went on to win 17-11.
Unfortunately, Moore has not been able to add to his tally of Ryder Cup appearances in the years since. Meanwhile, he has not won on the PGA Tour since that victory at the John Deere.
But clearly, his form was exactly the reason the Horschel rule came in for that event. And he definitely vindicated the faith coming from the likes of both Love III and Watson.
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