CHASKA, Minn. -- Two days before the Ryder Cup, Phil Mickelson went back 12 years to drive home a point that the Americans are prepared to play their best golf.And along the way, he disparaged yet another former captain.This time, his target was Hal Sutton.Mickelson was the catalyst for change at the last Ryder Cup when he publicly questioned Tom Watsons heavy-handed style -- with Watson sitting at the same table -- after another American loss at Gleneagles. That led to the PGA of America creating a task force allowing for player involvement.When you look back on what the difference is, when players are put in a position to succeed, more often than not they tend to succeed, Mickelson said. And when they are put in positions to fail, most of the time they tend to fail.In a conversation Wednesday on how much a captain matters in the Ryder Cup, Mickelson looked across the room and said, Let me give you an example, if I may.He went back to 2004 when the Americans suffered their worst loss ever in the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills. Nothing illustrated their failure more than when U.S. captain Hal Sutton put Mickelson and Tiger Woods together for the first time. They lost two matches in one day.Mickelson was lampooned that week for practicing on an adjacent course as he tried to adjust to the golf ball used by Woods.We ended up not playing well. Was that the problem? I mean, maybe, Mickelson said. But we were told two days before that we were playing together, and that gave us no time to work together and prepare.Mickelson said having to learn how to hit a different golf ball forced him to abandon his own preparations to get sharp.In the history of my career, I have never ball-tested two days prior to a major, Mickelson said. It doesnt allow me to play my best. What allows me to play my best is to learn the course, sharpen my touch on the greens, sharpen my chipping out of the rough and ball-striking and so forth. Instead, Im taking four or five hours, and Im out trying to learn another ball to allow us to play our best.Mickelson said he wasnt trying to knock Sutton. He said he liked how decisive Sutton was that week.But thats an example of starting with the captain. That put us in a position to fail. And we failed monumentally, absolutely, he said. But to say, `Well, you just need to play better, that is so misinformed. Because you will play how you prepare.Sutton was bemused that Mickelson would bring that up now.My God, somebodys got to be the fall guy, he told Golfweek magazine. If it needs to be me, I can be that. I dont have anything to say to that. My God. The world saw what happened. They saw it. I didnt have to cover it up. ... I find it amusing that thats an issue at the 2016 Ryder Cup. I think Phil better get his mind on what he needs to have it on this week instead of on something that happened 10 years ago. ...It couldnt be their fault, he said. It had to be somebody elses fault. It had to be Hal Suttons fault. Had to be.U.S. captain Davis Love III said Mickelson was only trying to set the record straight because some analysts just keep bringing it up over and over and over again, though Mickelson mentioned Oakland Hills unprompted in his news conference.And Mickelson failed to mention that he switched equipment from Titleist to Callaway a week before the matches.Hal was an incredible captain, said Love, who played on that team and went 1-3-1. I think Phil is looking forward to whats happened over the last year and weve learned a lot from all of our past captains on how we need to do this together.He said Sutton was with the U.S. team on Tuesday night and it was an inspiration to see him.Mickelson is more optimistic than ever that the Americans can end two decades of futility against Europe, which has won eight of the last 10 times. Mickelson is playing his record 11th straight Ryder Cup, qualifying for every one of those teams, yet he has been on the winning side only twice.Two years ago, he was visibly angry after the loss at Gleneagles about the U.S. getting away from what worked under Paul Azinger in a rare 2008 victory, and what seems to work every year at the Presidents Cup against an international team that is not nearly as formidable as Europe.Love was captain at Medinah in 2012 when the Americans had a 10-6 lead going into singles, only to win three of the 12 singles matches as Europe rallied to win. Mickelson and Woods were part of that task force that agreed to bring Love back.This is a year where we feel as though Captain Love has been putting us in a position to succeed, Mickelson said. Hes taken input from all parties. Hes making decisions that have allowed us to prepare our best and play our best, and I believe that we will play our best. 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Air Max Ireland Sale . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots came into the regular season expecting their biggest test during Tom Bradys four-game suspension to be in their opener at Arizona.That task was complicated by the absence of tight end Rob Gronkowski, as well as two more missing pieces on an offensive line that had already went through an offseason makeover.But after leaving the desert Sunday with a narrow victory that featured lots of late-game poise by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, New England is feeling confident heading into a much-less-daunting schedule over the next three weeks, beginning with a Miami Dolphins team that hasnt won in Foxborough since 2008.The confidence is also high for a franchise that continues to have lots of regular-season success in the rare times Brady hasnt been the starting quarterback.The Patriots are 11-5 in regular-season games without him since he went down with a torn ACL in the season opener in 2008. Matt Cassel played the rest of that season, going 10-5. After Sundays performance, the prospect of Garoppolo giving New England a 4-0 start seems more possible.Team captain Matt Slater said preparation played a big role in the Patriots adjusting with key players sidelined Sunday.That `next man up motto has been real big around here in my time here, Slater said. Ive seen it time and time again. And obviously, Ive seen it with a couple of quarterbacks in my time here.Much of the Patriots offensive success Sunday night came in part because of their command on third down, when they converted on 10 of their 16 opportunities for the game.Garoppolo was certainly a big part of it. He displayed calmness in the pocket throughout, and used both his arm and feet to extend drives.He had five throws that went for 10 yards or more on third down, and also scrambled for 10 yards on another.ddddddddddddHis biggest throw of the night came in the fourth quarter after the Cardinals had taken a 21-20 lead. The Patriots found themselves facing in a third-and-15 right off the bat on their ensuing possession.Garoppolo dropped back and initially couldnt find an open receiver. He spun in the pocket and gave receiver Danny Amendola enough time to find a crease on the left side of the Cardinals zone.Garoppolo stepped up and delivered a dart for a 32-yard gain that put the Patriots in Arizona territory. The drive ended in Stephen Gostkowskis 32-yard field goal for the winning points.I would say, going back to the preparation, the coaches did a great job giving us the game plan going into it on third down, breaking it down for us, simplifying it, Garoppolo said. It makes it a lot easier on us when you have good coaches like that.He also had his pick of targets to throw to. Without Gronkowski, held out because of a sore hamstring, Garoppolo spread his 24 completions to six receivers. Seven if you count a ball tipped at the line that he caught himself and was able to turn into a 3-yard gain.Its probably why Belichick scoffed at the idea that the offense was at all watered down for Garoppolo in his first regular-season start.I think Jim does a good job in the pocket. Hes got good vision, Belichick said. He saw a couple of good opportunities to run. Then he saw a couple of other opportunities to slide in the pocket and extend the play. ... He doesnt hang on to the ball. He gets it out of there on time. But if things are covered, hes made good decisions.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '