Faldo's Ryder Cup Captain's Picks

[BASHERBAKER69]

Yes, this is a good European team- Clarke is a good player but has not been consistent enough to gain a place. Monty-he has not played up to his high standards so he is not deserving of a place. It should be a good contest in Valhalla and cannot wait to see a bit of patriotism from both sides. But, in all fairness, making the Ryder team is not the be all and end all- im sure many of the players will be glad of a rest and to see their counterparts cook in the oven over a number of days.

[Tristan]

i think that Poults and Casey were bad choices to be honest. poults has had 2 top tens this year and hasnt won since 06 on a meaningful tour aka not japan. Casey is the better choice but again he hasn't won anything for 18 months. I would have gone for Clarke after his record and recent form - two wins in 08. Then I would have picked Ross Fisher - perfect game for Valhalla and a very good win with a class field at the european open or nick Dougherty - who won the first flado series nad was a shoe in before his mum died or Kaymer whose form speaks for its self

[joshtpa]

So glad Ian made it. He has had a very solid year.

[geezer]

Are you serious, The Birdieman? Poulter has had two top tens this year, whereas Darren Clarke has had two wins in the past four months and a phenomenal Ryder Cup record. Now, who is more deserving of the place? I think theres blatant favouritism going on here. Its not right.

[King Norre]

Another vote for Clarke here. I watched the man play at the KLM Open last month (he won that one btw) and he was UNBELIEVABLE good !! Even under pressure, because until the back-9 of the last day anything was possible. Stenson was right there with him and McGinley was getting closer and closer.
But that didn't bother him at all, he was playing his game ... and won. It's a shame he isn't in the team IMO

[geezer]

^ Its more than a shame, its an injustice.

[Chilli Dipper]

All I know is thank God that the team has already picked out Poulter's attire for him.

[JaY_B]

I really hope Ian and Nick prove you all wrong.... this is the problem with British attitude towards sport: "lets knock every single decision they make and criticize it til our hearts content", the English media is a miserably good example of this.

Faldo is our captain and as a result we should stand by his picks and believe in him, Faldo after all is known for his 'cut no corners' approach to planning and is very thorough in what he does, Faldo has obviously put a lot of thought in to these two choices and imo has come up with the two players most likely to contribute the most points.

[geezer]

How can you not question the decision to take Casey or Poulter over Clarke?! Poulter could have qualified through the European pointlist if he'd finished third or better at the Johnnie Walker, but he decided to go over and miss the cut in the FedEx. Whereas Clarke has had two wins in the past four months, and has played in the last 5 consecutive RC's with a phenomenal record.

As for your 'the team must be supported'. They are, and will be when the time comes, but Faldo has made a mistake here and everybody has the right to criticise any decision he makes, if they believe it to be a wrong decision.

[JaY_B]

How can you

Questioning it will not change anything, complaining will not change anything, Darren Clarke has already said that Ian Poulter does not deserve the criticism he is getting, maybe its time we stopped doubting and judging Faldo's wild card picks (as if any of us would do a better job) and get behind the team and wholeheartedly support every single player in the team.

[geezer]

I'm well aware that qustioning it will change nothing. I'm not criticising Poulter, I'm criticising Faldo's pick of Poulter.

Its not like I'm passing round a petition to change the picks. Its not like I'm going to boycott the team in this years Ryder Cup.

All I'm saying is that Faldo should have picked Clarke. Its an opinion.

[iacas]

A guy from England thinks the picks are fine. A guy from Ireland doesn't. Hmmm.

[geezer]

Ha ha, yeah. Funny that, isn't it!

[Thrash13]

After digesting it for a couple days, it doesn't really surprise me that Faldo picked Casey and Poulter. Everyone thought Clarke was a lock, and golf fans should never think anything is a lock with Faldo. He isn't afraid to go against the grain.

He probably had Casey and Poulter picked a couple weeks ago, and he stuck with them through it all. Casey has had a very nice past month or two, and while Poulter has only had a couple top-10 finishes this season, he has been overall more consistent than Clarke. Sure, Clarke had the two wins, but he wasn't great other than that was he?

That's the only think I can think of when trying to figure out why Clarke was left off the team. I sure would have picked them though due to his success with Lee Westwood. They seriously might miss out on a point or two by not having those two teamed up. And this year, it will come down to a point or two. I guarantee it.

[Mr Eagle]

A guy from England thinks the picks are fine. A guy from Ireland doesn't. Hmmm.

Well this guy from England dosnt think its fine at all. Clarke should have been in the side no question about it. Faldo is an idiot ,he obviously wanted to make his "Im in charge" point and he has done it.

The idea of wild cards is so you can pick your best matchplayers regardless of their current standings on the rankings, Faldo has failed to do this Darren Clarke should be at Vallhalla,Poults(and Im probably in the minority when I say I like the guy) should be watching it on TV.

[JaY_B]

Well this guy from England dosnt think its fine at all. Clarke should have been in the side no question about it. Faldo is an idiot ,he obviously wanted to make his "Im in charge" point and he has done it.

Complete bull, an unfounded opinion that you can not justify. In World Rankings Poults is ahead of Clarke, in consistency of performance Poults is ahead of Clarke. Also remember this was a *hard* choice, Faldo did not write off Clarke who probably missed out on selection by a whisker. Clarke also has no right to be in the Ryder Cup team, he did not qualify for automatic selection and as a result can have no gripes with not being picked.

The idea of wild cards is so you can pick your best matchplayers regardless of their current standings on the rankings, Faldo has failed to do this

Poults is known to be a good match player, his cocky and flamboyant attitude combined with the amount of birdies he makes leads to him being a hard person to play against in matchplay.

Poulter will not be overawed by any player the US can throw at him, he is also completely confident in him game and himself, this attitude in my opinion is priceless for the European team. The 'old guard' are not going to be in the Ryder Cup forever, change happens.

[Harry Longshanks]

in consistency of performance Poults is ahead of Clarke.

JaY_B -

On what information are you basing this? (<--genuine question, not sarcasm.) With Clarke winning twice this year, and Poulter and Casey 0 times, I would have thought Clarke would be considered more "consistent." I'm just wondering how you arrived at your opinion. (It's been a couple of days since I read this thread. So if you stated it earlier and I've just forgotten, feel free to tell me so and I will search the thread.) Thanks.

[JaY_B]

JaY_B -

I should of said Poulter has shown more consistency on the PGA Tour.

On the PGA tour, Ian Poulter this year has made 11 out of 13 cuts (plus a WD in the US PGA Champs) Apart from a 78 in the final round of the Masters Ians highest score has been 74 with a scoring average of 70.67. Darren Clarke has only played 2 events in the US this year and missed the cut in one of them (although in his defence did come tied 6th in his other event). It is hard to compare due to the fact they both play predomintly different tours. I think Poulter should get the nod due to the amount of playing experiance he has had in the US this year. I would carry on but I have to go out, I should highlight that it is my opinion that Ian Poulter was the right choice, it is therefore only natural for me to attempt to defend him, I respect anyones opinion that disagrees with me.