Johnson, Love III named as U.S. vice captains for Ryder Cup

[May 12, 2020]    (Reuters) - Zach Johnson and Davis Love III were named as vice captains by U.S. captain Steve Stricker for the 2020 Ryder Cup, which is scheduled to take place in September at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Zach Johnson of the U.S. on the 9th hole during the second round REUTERS/Paul Childs

Love and Johnson join Jim Furyk - who was in charge of the 2018 team - as U.S. vice captains.

"With the Ryder Cup it's important to surround yourself with quality individuals who you can lean on and who have the best interests of the team in mind," Stricker said.

"Jim (Furyk) and I have talked about this a lot in the last year and now we are happy to add two Ryder Cup veterans in Zach and Davis to the conversation with the goal of putting this team in a prime position to win," he said of the pair, who have played in a combined 11 Ryder Cups.

The biennial event is scheduled to be contested from Sept 25-28 but there is uncertainty about whether the tournament can go ahead, or played without spectators, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington told The Times newspaper that staging this year's event without fans may be necessary due to the health crisis, which has claimed over 81,000 lives in the United States.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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