Larry Nelson
With all the hype about the Ryder Cup this week, after been delayed a year due to Covid-19, I cannot stop thinking about one of the biggest injustices in professional golf and Ryder Cup history.
The United States team has had some exceptionally good captains, some not so good, and the ones that never were. Larry Nelson falls into the later category and the PGA of America should be ashamed of themselves over it.
Larry Nelson is not only an American war hero, but also had a remarkable PGA Tour career and an excellent Ryder Cup record. Him, along with Lanny Wadkins, accrued a 4-0-0 record in the 1979 Ryder Cup. Only one other team in Ryder Cup history have accomplished such a feat, the duo of Molinari and Fleetwood at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris.
Why Larry Nelson never given the opportunity to be Ryder Cup captain is a mystery to me.
Back in a 2012 article by Stan Awtrey, Nelson did not minced words regarding the selection process and the rationale behind it.
“It never really made any sense to me,” he said. “I played on three Ryder Cup teams and two of the captains I had (Billy Casper in 1979 and Dave Marr in 1981) were not really playing on the TOUR anymore. I feel like their decisions were much more effective, because they weren’t based on friendships or relationships. Sometimes it can be a positive.”
When addressing the issue regarding his age, at 65, he went on to say:
“It’s not like a lot of us are out of the game and don’t know what’s going on. We still love the game. We love to compete. Inside our minds we’re just as competitive as we were 30 or 40 years ago. Our physical bodies aren’t quite as good, but I don’t have to arm wrestle anybody. All I have to do is put together a team and get a team prepared. I don’t think age or actually being part of the TOUR is a detriment at all.”
Larry Nelson’s Ryder Cup record of 9-3-1, two-time PGA Champion, United States Open Champion, and the fact he beat Seve Ballesteros 3 and 2 in singles, should have been good enough for the PGA of America to have reach out to Nelson with a captaincy offer.
This has been one of the biggest mistakes, and injustices, ever made by the PGA of America and the Ryder Cup committee.
As we get closer to the first tee shot at Whistling Straits, I salute the great golfer, American hero, and Ryder Cup captain who never was, Larry Nelson.