As you may have heard, the U.S. kind of stunk in this year’s Ryder Cup, the biannual competition between the United States and Europe.
If you’re not into golf, it might not really register, but in the golf world, it’s a very big deal, and the American side is frustrated because the U.S. hasn’t won since 2021.
Phil Mickelson, aka Lefty, has an interesting proposal to solve the losing:
”Here is why looking outside of golf to a Coach K or Lou Holtz is worth exploring. Golf is an individual sport that doesn’t have team work, support system, partnership, team analytics, personality traits, and more. The Europeans have a template that teaches and prepares their captains for these skills.
“U.S. has a new template every two years with little continuity. If a Coach K or Lou Holtz or someone similar took over, would it be built upon or would it be scrapped and start over again afterwards? If that’s the case, it would be a waste of time and effort and not worth doing to begin with.”
It’s a fascinating idea, but he points to the main problem, at least for Krzyzewski and Holtz: Coach K is now 78 and Holtz, a passionate golfer, is a decade older at 88.
We have no doubt that Krzyzewski would approach it as he would any competition: logically, systematically and intensely focused on winning, all while reprogramming the competitors.
Realistically though, he has plenty of commitments and we can’t imagine him taking on another sport at nearly 80.
We like the idea though. Perhaps there is a figure from another sport who might be able to do it, like, say Nick Saban or Geno Auriemma, someone who has mastered psychology and how to approach winning.
