When Tom Watson last captained a US Ryder Cup team in 1993, a Tweet generated little interest outside of the Ornithological Society and a Blog was still scribbled down on parchment with a quill.
Some 20 years on, amid a technological tsunami, Tweets and Blogs are par for the course for a skipper's role which is now all plugged-in and logged-on as information is spewed out to the masses like a geyser of online oil.
At the age of 64, Watson still has his finger on the various buttons and, as the countdown to September's match at Gleneagles continues, the decorated Kansas veteran is regularly taking to the internet to offer his thoughts on developments in the American camp.
With four majors, a series of WGC tournaments and a whole host of other big-money contests yet to be played, the qualifying scramble is still in its infancy but there have already been some eye-catching displays for Watson to mull over.
Having ended 2013 by beating Tiger Woods in a play-off to the World Challenge title in December, Zach Johnson began Ryder Cup year by winning the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii earlier this month. The 11-time PGA Tour champion has three cup campaigns on his cv already and the 2007 Masters winner is exactly the kind of man Watson wants in his line up.
"I've been actively watching the players and how they're playing and I've been impressed by a number of them, especially Zach Johnson," said Watson. "Zach's the kind of player who has a big heart. You can't underestimate the value of a big heart from a standpoint of winning and how that plays in a Ryder Cup. Heart is the No.1 quality I'm looking for in these players.
"It's too early to look at the standings and think 'this is the team that will be at Gleneagles', but there certainly are trends. And right now, the team is really shaping up similar to the one we had in 2012. Guys from that 2012 US team are playing well and getting significant points.
"Now that we're officially in the Ryder Cup year, the media will start talking a lot about it. I'll be out at the LA Open on February 11 to make an announcement of importance, so people can be on the lookout for that. While I'm out there, I'm going to make it a point to talk and watch the players, as I want to get to know them better. I'm going to do this consistently throughout the year."
When September comes, Watson will have turned 65 and will be the oldest captain in Ryder Cup history. Only time will tell if he goes down in history as a winning captain.
"To inspire is part of my job, but I know they'll be motivated."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article