DAVIS LOVE III, who captained the US Ryder Cup team that lost a 2012 heartbreaker at Medinah, will return to guide the Americans against Europe in 2016.
The PGA of America announced Love as the choice to captain the US team next year at Hazeltine tonight at its Florida headquarters.
Love, 50, was selected after several meetings by an 11-man Ryder Cup task force charged with improving US results in the wake of a divisive 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 US loss to Europe last year at Gleneagles with Tom Watson guiding the Americans.
Americans have lost eight of the past 10 Ryder Cups, including the past three in a row and six of the past seven meetings with Europe’s top players.
The task force met for four hours two weeks ago in San Diego, but it was unclear how much influence players or the PGA of America had in the decision.
In 2012, Love’s US squad led 10-6 entering Sunday singles matches only to have Europe match the best last-day rally in Cup history to keep the trophy 14 1/2 to 13 1/2.
Repeating captains has been rare for the US side. Watson, who was captain at a 1993 US win at Gleneagles that is the most recent for the Americans on European soil, had been the first repeat US Ryder Cup captain since Jack Nicklaus in 1983 and 1987.
Love would become only the eighth man to captain the US Ryder Cup squad more than once, a list that includes Watson, Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Jack Burke, San Snead, Ben Hogan and Walter Hagen. Of those, only Burke lost his debut but received a second chance.
