Jeff Sluman, Scott Verplank named assistant Ryder Cup captains

Longtime Hinsdale resident Jeff Sluman, along with fellow PGA pro Scott Verplank, were named assistant captains of the U.S. Ryder Cup team Monday by captain Davis Love III.

“It’s nice to have a local with Jeff and Linda Sluman right there in town,” Love said from a news conference at Kiawah Island, S.C. “And Jeff and I spent a lot of time in Wales (in 2010) talking about this Ryder Cup already.

“He’s been a big supporter of mine over the last two years, and it’s great that we added he and Scott Verplank to our team. We’re excited and ready to go.”

Love already has a plan of attack for Sluman, winner of the 1988 PGA Championship: head over to Medinah Country Club, host of the 2012 Ryder Cup, and check up on European captain Jose Maria Olazabal, who is in town this week.

“Jeff’s going to get over to Medinah this week for me and take a look around, because we heard José Maria was over there,” Love said. “So I’m going to send Jeff over there to see what he’s doing.”

Sluman and Verplank join Fred Couples and Mike Hulbert as the U.S. team’s four assistant captains, and Love is certain they’ll fit in just fine.

“They are two close friends of mine, guys that have been around the game a long time,” Love said. “These are guys that I trust. They are close friends of mine. They are very engaged already and have given me a lot of great advice.”