Coltart: Azinger would be a knee-jerk captain

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Former Ryder Cup player and Sky Sports golf commentator Andrew Coltart has described the US golf team as a “charade”, and suggested a lack of spirit and unity in the team, led to the American’s poor performance at Gleneagles.

Andrew, who represented Europe in the 1999 competition at Brookline, also held up Paul McGinley’s outstanding leadership and attention to detail as being pivotal factors in Europe’s comprehensive win.

He was talking as he signed up to a new partnership between his company TPEGS Ultimate Golf Experiences and Bentley of Edinburgh. Andrew runs TPEGS from the new Nike Golf facility at Archerfield Links in East Lothian along with Gary Nicol, a respected European Tour coach.

Having spent a week at the Ryder Cup, inside the ropes following games and talking to players on both sides, Andrew said: “Europe played brilliantly as a team, and the Americans did not. They’ve been made to look like a team, but there’s a façade there, and behind it you will find a bunch of individuals that patently don’t have the same spirit and desire to win that exists among the Europeans.

“They might not be litigating against one another, but they certainly don’t care for each other in the same way that the Europeans – including Rory and GMac – evidently do, and that’s a problem that no coach can easily overcome.

“Paul McGinley is rightly taking credit for inspiring the European team to a great win. I’ve known him a long time, and he cares very much about people and how to get the best out of them. His attention to detail was something to behold, and his outstanding captaincy will be a model for future captains and leaders of any kind.

“Where the Americans go next is important for them. As Phil Mickelson clumsily pointed out before the dust had settled at Gleneagles, there is something fundamentally wrong. The captain must shoulder some of the blame, but there is a much deeper problem of team unity, and the distinct lack of it.

“In my view, choosing Paul Azinger to Captain the American side would be a knee-jerk, backward-looking decision. It would be like asking Craig Brown back to manage the Scotland football team because he was the last man to take us to a major tournament.

“Yes, Azinger is the last person to have led the Americans to a Ryder Cup win, but some would argue that Nick Faldo’s team was not as well prepared or well led as those that followed.

“The Americans should now look to the likes of David Duval or Justin Leonard. Players who are respected across the board and who are closer to the generation of young golfers that can help them be more competitive when the famous old cup is up for grabs again at Hazeltine National in 2016.”

TPEGS Ultimate Golf Experiences has reached an agreement with Bentley of Edinburgh which will see Coltart and Gary Nicol become Bentley Mulsanne ambassadors.

Nicol added: “We have worked with Bentley of Edinburgh on our helicopter golf trips and it’s great to be working with them again. This new partnership allows our clients to arrive at Archerfield Links in style and comfort, and we’re excited to be associated with such an iconic British brand.”

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