Central to the American way is Phil Mickelson, who The Times understands had already been told he will captain the US team in 2024 in Bethpage. Mickelson infamously threw Tom Watson, his captain, under a bus at Gleneagles in 2014. In the post-defeat press conference that year, with all the players sitting at a top table along with their captain, Mickelson said the US had a “real game plan” in the past and had got away from a winning formula. Watson, for his part, had scoffed when the players offered him a signed replica of the trophy on the Saturday night, underlining the ill-feeling in the team.
This time the players presented a more united front at the concluding press conference, with Mickelson praising Furyk, but it would have been hard not to given Mickelson’s key role in setting up the so-called task force after the 2014 defeat.
Reed was less impressed and suggested he thought about going for Spieth when his team-mate said the players had been involved in every decision. Reed felt only a few star names had input. “I was looking at him [Spieth] like I was about to light the room up like Phil in ’14,” Reed said.