In keeping with his reputation of being his own man, Nick Faldo proved most pundits wrong in giving his 2 wildcard picks to Paul Casey and Ian Poulter for the upcoming Ryder Cup at Valhalla in the United States this September.

That both are Englishmen may be seen as some as a Captain’s preference to his ‘own’ guys, especially considering that the two other strongest competitors for the places were the Northern Irishman Darrren Clarke and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie. In some peoples eyes this would be even more surprising given the experience the two have, with Montgomerie having had played in the Ryder cup 8 times and Clarke 5 times.

Darren Clarke must be considered the most unlucky of all those that missed out given that he has won twice this year, his form of late has been excellent – culminating in his most recent win at the KLM Open last week – and that his performance at the last Ryder Cup so soon after the death of his wife was simply epic, winning all 3 points available to him. While Montgomerie has been Mister Ryder Cup, going unbeaten in the singles in his entire career, he just has not shown the form that saw him win 8 Order of Merits as one of the most dominating players in European Tour history and as such was never a serious pick.

The message that Nick Faldo appears to be sending out is that he is taking the players who would be most suited to the US style layout; long drives and floating high trajectory approach shots and less emphasis on bump-and-runs and punch shots. Paul Casey seems a justified pick having played for Arizona State and allied to his recent form (4 top tens in this last 7 tournaments) and his unbeaten record at the last Ryder Cup, including his hole-in-one to win, he will not be an opponent that any American player would be happy to take on. Ian Poulter is a far more controversial  choice having only had 2 top tens this year with one of those coming in January and seems to have caught the Captain’s eye for the sparkling last 9 holes at The Open more than anything else. However, given Poulter’s personality and the sort of opprobrium he tends to attract just for being who he is and dressing as he does, this could well be the spark that drives him to play at his best and show the world that he is actually more substance that style.

The other nearest miss was Nick Dougherty who could have played himself into contention at Gleneagles but fell away despite 6 birdies on the last day.

European Ryder Cup team: Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter.