Harrington, Molinari and Donald revealed as Montgomerie's Ryder picks
Colin Montgomerie has announced his wildcard picks for the Ryder Cup, Italy's Edoardo Molinari strong-arming his way onto the team after taking victory at the Johnnie Walker Championship yesterday.
Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald were the captain's other choices, with Paul Casey and Justin Rose the casualties.
With five players in the world top 25 vying for just three wildcard places, European captain Montgomerie had referred to his decision as "impossible" in the days before the announcement. Not that the men involved had bent over backwards to aid Monty in his decision-making process, Casey, Donald, Harrington and Rose all opting to play in the US this week rather than competing for automatic qualification places at Gleneagles.
Such a move could have helped to free up the wildcard places, but the lure of the FedEx cup play-offs proved too strong. Monty had refused to berate the so-called FedEx Four for playing in New Jersey this weekend however, insisting he was "happy" to see European players competing at the tournament.
As it turned out, Casey was the best performer of the four at Ridgewood Country Club yesterday, the 33-year-old finishing seven-under-par for a share of 12th place yesterday. Rose and Donald were each a stroke behind on six-under, and both Rose and Casey have decent records at the Ryder Cup .
In contrast, Harrington has failed to win at the competition since 2004, and in fact the Dubliner is without a victory on tour in more than two years. He finished one-under at the Barclays yesterday, tied for 47th place, and the 38-year-old himself admitted that he didn't know if he'd done enough to merit inclusion in the team yesterday before Monty announced his picks, telling the Daily Mail: "Anyone who doesn't qualify doesn't deserve to be there."
In Harrington's favour is the knowledge that he is one of only three major winners on the team - and the only multiple victor, having won the Open in 2007 and '08, and the PGA Championship in 2008. Nonetheless, there are some who feel that in a particularly tough field this year, Harrington will be heading to Wales in five weeks’ time on the strength of his reputation, rather than recent standing.
On learning he had failed to make the team, Casey commented: "I probably need time to take it in. Simple fact is I'm not on the team. I think Europe have got an unbelievable team. I wish them the best for the match, simple as that."
And Rose told interviewers: "I'm very disappointed. I figured I had as good a shot as anybody. And for Paul Casey not to be in as well I think was a very interesting selection. I don't think many people would have got those three."
But it would be difficult to quibble with Molinari's ascent to the team. Last year's World Cup winner showed real determination to make the team with his performance at Gleneagles on Sunday. Requiring three birdies from the final three holes at Gleneagles in order to take victory, the 29-year-old duly obliged, having earlier suggested he would be very upset to win the tournament and find himself omitted from the team.
Montgomerie may not have appreciated the forthright nature of Molinari's views on the subject, but the 47-year-old could scarcely dispute their validity after yesterday's finish. Edoardo will now join his brother Francesco at Celtic Manor in October; the first time brothers have played together at the competition since 1963, when Bernhard and Jeff Hunt represented Great Britain.
The European team is as follows, then: Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Padraig Harrington, Peter Hanson, Ross Fisher and Luke Donald. Of those 12, six players - the two Molinaris, McIlroy, Kaymer Fisher and Hanson - are newcomers to the Ryder Cup.
While there's no place for five-time Ryder veteran Sergio Garcia on the team, the Spaniard will nonetheless play a role in the tournament, Garcia joining Darren Clark, Thomas Bjorn and Paul McGinley as non-playing vice-captains.
All of which, minor disagreements aside, makes for a mightily impressive European line-up. The USA's Corey Pavin will announce his four wildcard picks next week, with Tiger Woods among the hopefuls requiring a captain's pick.
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