Wild Card Watch / Bill Elliott / 01 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

Nick Faldo's decision to leave out Darren Clarke will rankle with many but there can be no arguments about the exclusion of Monty, says Bill Elliott.

Nick Faldo has risked his reputation as the leading golf strategist of his generation by selecting Ian Poulter ahead of a resurgent Darren Clarke for Europe's Ryder Cup team.

Picking Poulter, the highest ranked player who failed to make the side automatically, is hardly a bizarre decision but it flies in the face of what Faldo has said consistently since his appointment as skipper. Back at the Masters I had breakfast with him and he stressed then that his picks would be based on "current form rather than rankings". He said this form would be judged over the six weeks between The Open and yesterday.

Well, if he had stuck to his plan, there would have been no place for Poulter who since finishing runner-up at Birkdale has been playing golf the blunt side of average. On top of this his decision to boycott the final qualifying tournament at Gleneagles in favour of a tilt at major bucks in the increasingly uninteresting Fedex Cup has hugely irritated the majority of European Tour players as well as high-ranking officials.

It is significant that perhaps the most surprised man to hear his name come out of Faldo's mouth at a crowded and mostly skeptical Press conference yesterday was Poulter himself. "He seemed emotionally lost when I told him he was in, " said Faldo, before adding: "I love his attitude. He is so determined and I was very impressed with the way he played those last nine holes at The Open and the way he holed his final putt when he felt he knew that if it went in then he would be champion."

Fair enough, but all this hype pales when set against Clarke's form of late both over here when he won in Holland - his second victory of the year - and in the States when he challenged for the Bridgestone title. Clarke has proved himself to be a man of character as well as a golfer of undoubted ability and a Ryder Cup team member who is genuinely committed to the cause.

The Ulsterman's exclusion by Faldo will rankle hugely with many and if Poulter does not come up with the goods at Valhalla then the occasionally outrageous player will be used by sections of the media as a weapon with which to hurt the captain.

Asked what qualities he would bring to the match, Poulter replied: "Excitement, flair and passion." Well, we'll see although the next time I personally get excited by pink golf sweaters or tightly fitted trousers will be the first. We'll see soon enough if Faldo has been smart.

No argument, however, about his rejection of Colin Montgomerie in favour of Paul Casey. Monty has been playing like a drain for most of this year while Casey has been steadily improving over the last couple of months and there is no doubting his ability at match play following a stellar amateur career and, of course, the World Match Play title itself two years ago.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of it all it now means that we know at last which twelve golfers will be flying the European flag in Kentucky: Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Casey and Poulter.

The top half of this side is as strong as I have seen since the heady days when Faldo was actually playing in these things but the bottom half appears worryingly fragile. If there is any compensation, however, it is that the eight players currently qualified for the USA add up to the worst American side of my lifetime. All good fun really...

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