Couples Wants, Deserves Ryder Cup Captaincy

Like so many other players in the field at the Ensure Classic at Rock Barn Friday, Fred Couples wanted to know what was happening at the Ryder Cup in Wales.

Bernhard Langer, who was in the mix to be a captain's pick for the European team, said he was glad to be playing in the North Carolina sunshine rather than the rainy mess in Wales.

Tom Kite recalled his seven Ryder Cup experiences as a player and his captaincy at Valderamma in Spain in 1997 when rain also disrupted the proceedings.

Couples, meanwhile, liked hearing that the format had been altered due to the weather and that every player would be on the course on Saturday. He believes the Ryder Cup should be like the Presidents Cup where all the players play rather than creating awkward decisions about who sits and who plays in the Ryder Cup.

On Sunday, Couples turns 51 and he's had a great career but he still wants one thing -- he wants to be the U.S. Ryder Cup captain. He captained the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team last fall and he'll do it again next year in Australia.

That's great but it's not the Ryder Cup.

Couples deserves to be Ryder Cup captain in 2012, though it may be unlikely given his Presidents Cup commitment.

"Sure," Couples said Friday when asked if he wanted to captain the Ryder Cup team. "But if it doesn't happen, I'll take my two chances with the Presidents Cup as a great time and a great honor and go from there."

When the PGA of America sits down to pick its next Ryder Cup captain, Fred Couples should be the easy answer.