He turned 65 a few days ago and is old enough to be the grandfather of three of his team members, but anyone expecting Tom Watson to be a soft touch as Ryder Cup captain is in for a rude awakening.

"My strengths are that I've been there before (in 1993) and have the experience. And I have an absolute desire to do everything possible to set the stage for them to win," Watson said.

"Weaknesses? I don't know. Maybe compassion. I have passion but maybe compassion is something I lack. I expect these players to go out and take care of business. I think the reason they'll want to win is because we lost the 2012 Ryder Cup."

Perhaps in those two answers Watson made it clear why the US PGA hunted him down in December 2012 - less than three months after being on the wrong end of the "Miracle at Medinah" - and asked him to lead their 2014 revenge bid.

A seventh defeat in the last nine contests had prompted a radical rethink among the Yanks in terms of the captaincy, which had tended to be given to players between 40 and 50 years old who were still active on tour.

Watson did not fulfil either of those criteria and will be the oldest-ever captain on either side, surpassing the record of fellow five-time Open champion JH Taylor, who was 62 when he guided Great Britain to victory in 1933.

He brings experience of three victories as a player and, more importantly, of captaining the US to their last victory on European soil at the Belfry in 1993.

Questions were raised about Watson's age and whether he would be out of touch with the likes of Jordan Spieth (21), Patrick Reed (24) and Rickie Fowler (25).

However, Watson had proved himself capable of competing against, and beating, the current generation on more than one occasion - and it was the most famous of those which had set the wheels in motion.

Watson's performance in coming within a shot of winning a sixth Open title at the age of 59 at Turnberry in 2009 inspired Jim Huber's book, Four Days in July. PGA of America president Ted Bishop read it on a flight home from the Grand Slam of Golf in 2011, then called Huber wanting to know more about Watson.

"He's a tough guy," Huber said. "He can be complicated and opinionated. He has beaten the drinking thing and he survived a tough divorce. But Tom is in a good place. Why do you ask?"

Bishop told Huber he was thinking of asking Watson to be Ryder Cup captain in 2014. After a brief pause came Huber's reply: "Brilliant."

Watson was hunting pheasant when Bishop telephoned and asked him to call back later that day. When he did, the two men talked for 45 minutes, Watson outlining why he felt Europe had dominated recent contests.

Eventually Bishop asked if Watson had any interest in becoming Ryder Cup captain again.

"I was waiting for about 20 years to get the call," said Watson.

During the 1993 Ryder Cup, Watson did not make a habit of consulting vice-captains or other players, according to Paul Azinger, who played in the 15-13 triumph for the US team.

"He kept saying, 'We are going to win because I'm lucky'," Azinger said.

Paul McGinley will be hoping he has the luck of the Irish on his side . . . just in case.