LEE PINPOINTS REASONS FOR AMERICANS' POOR RECORD

GolfWeek Photo of LEE TREVINO by Tracy Wilcox

TREVINO SAYS US RYDER CUP BIG 

GUNS KEEP MISFIRING

FROM GOLFWEEK
By ADAM SCHUPAK
ORLANDO – Lee Trevino has heard an assortment of reasons why the Americans lost the 2014 Ryder Cup. He knows the Ryder Cup Task Force met for more than four hours, and he thinks everyone is missing the big point.
Why has the American side been beaten like a drum for the better part of two decades now? That's real simple, according to Trevino.
"I played six Ryder Cups. And it all comes down to one thing. It doesn't make any difference who the players are, who the captains are, how you match them up," Trevino said.
 "You've got to take your four guns, okay. Out of those 12 guys you've got four guns, these boys are machine guns, they've got the big ones. When you leave that Ryder Cup, win, lose or draw, those four guns have got to give you a plus five (win five more points or matches than they lose). They've got to give you plus something."
To Trevino, who was the losing captain for the U.S. in 1985, the four "guns" for the American side this year at Gleneagles consisted of Matt Kuchar, Bubba Waton, Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler, and they didn't deliver.
"Do you want me to tell you what their win and loss record was in the Ryder Cup this year? Minus six (3-9-3). Do you want me to tell you, Justin Rose, Graeme (McDowell), Sergio (Garcia), and (Rory) McIlroy, you want me to tell you what their plus and minus was? Plus seven.
"Now, you go from a minus six with your four guns to they get a plus seven, how the hell are you going to win a Ryder Cup? I mean, they might as well not go. I mean, if your four guns can't give you a plus five, at least a plus five, you've got no chance of winning the Ryder Cup."
Trevino has studied the records of Ryder Cup competitors and determined this is why the U.S. team has lost eight of the last 10 competitions.
"You look statistically: Tiger has a minus record, Mickelson has a minus record. Furyk has got a (10-20-4) record (10-20-4)! You see what I'm telling you? A (10-20-4) record. I know he's a hell of a player, but he's got a (10-20-4) Ryder Cup record. He's a minus 10. (Trevino, on the other hand, sported a 17-7-6 mark.) 
"You can't name me a guy with a plus record that's playing the Ryder Cup right now. (Jordan) Spieth has one now, and then (Patrick) Reed, yeah, he's got a 3-1, right? They're rookies. 
"But you give me a veteran that's played in three or four Ryder Cups and not one has a plus. You can't win that way. You cannot win."
Trevino also stuck up for Captain Tom Watson, his good friend (they also share the same representation), who shouldered much of the blame for the American side's 16.5-11.5 defeat in Scotland.
"I know that Mickelson criticised Watson about doing this and doing that, but you know, I can understand his frustration, but I want frustration from a guy that's got a plus (record) in the Ryder Cup," Trevino said. 
"Don't give me any lip when you've got a minus. You understand what I'm saying? I don't want to hear any lip unless you have a plus opposite your name. Then I think that you'll be listened to.
"But don't blame Watson, don't blame anyone else about it. If there is any blame to go around, the top four guys have got to take a long look at themselves. 
"Bubba went 0-3, Fowler went, what, (0-2-3). They've either got to take a week or two weeks off and really get ready for this thing or got to go in there with a different mindset. 
"This is the thing that people don't understand, and it's not been explained. You can't take your four best players and leave a Ryder Cup minus six and win a Ryder Cup. It's impossible. It's impossible. Can't do it."