Ryder cup debate should poulter have been picked ?

Question

do you think poulter deserved to be a captain,s pick ?? i don,t think he should have been picked over darren clarke or colin Montgomery !! he boycotted the final european tours final event before selection in favour of playing in america and he never even made the cut !! darren clarke has supported the european tour all his professional career and has won twice this year on tour , let,s be honest what exactly has poulter won ???? he is a cocky showboater who spends his golfing life trying to look like the late great payne stewart who looked class in his golfing attire not like some circus clown !! as for casey he is also of the same mould and i think monty is a ryder cup icon and would have been a better pick . the captains picks are supposed to be kept till the last minute !! poulter was given the nod by faldo in advance and that is exactly why he didn,t play .

Answer 1

NO. Poulter should not be included because his is out of form this year. Darren Clarke definitely deserves to be a Captain's pick if based on merit. Colin Montgomery must be out it is simply he is out of form.

Faldo was a great golfer but seems that he is not a good Captain.

Answer 2

irregardless of what you think the proof will be how well the individuals perform next week...thats what will decide if Faldo's picks were right or not.

Answer 3

It's certainly created a lot of debate, hasn't it? I wouldn't have picked Montgomerie. He's just too much out-of-form. His record in the Majors since he surrendered on the 18th in the US Open a couple of years ago is appalling and his overall form this year (and last) is mediocre at best. His Ryder Cup record is fantastic, but if we are going to use that as a basis for picking him then that should also put Seve and Faldo himself in the mix. Clarke has a better claim to feel aggrieved. Okay, so his form dipped mid-season, but he's got it back together recently. I would have put his 6th at Bridgestone, in a strong field, above his win in the Dutch Open in a weak field. What seems to have swayed Faldo against Clarke is that he has no form in any of the Majors this season (mainly because he hasn't played in them - did he play in the USPGA?) whereas Poulter and Casey both have decent form in them.

So, would I have picked Poulter? Probably not. His recent form since the British Open is nothing to write home about. I would've liked to have seen Petterson get the nod. He missed out narrowly in 2006 and was thereabouts in the world list again this time. All the same, should Poulter have a good Ryder Cup I'll be cheering along with most other Limeys!

Answer 4

I don't know, he seems like a competitive dude. Plus he gets some style points.

Answer 5

You sound like some of the fellas i work with, some even have said they hope Europe loose because of Faldo.  From what they said he had his mind made up months ago, and it didn't matter how well anyone else played, its was pure favouritism all the way.  

Answer 6

i agree,tho judging by monty's performance when he was 20 under recently after day 1,i think nicky boy maybe mad up his mind then,but the reason why i think he chose poulter was his display at the british in the bad weather,there couldnt be any other reason as to why faldo would choose him,i think now he's under alot of pressure to win this for us and if he fails,he'll get dogs abuse in the papers,only thing going for us is tiger's absense

Answer 7

I really don't know why everyone is questioning the inclusion of Poulter but not of Casey, even though Poulter finished the higher in both the Order of Merit and the World Rankings. I can only think they don't like his dress sense, which is a bit superficial.

Personally, I think Monty's too far out of form to be risked, but I would have included Darren Clarke - he's got a load of experience, he's a great man to have around, brings the best out of Lee Westwood and he won a tournament just a couple of weeks ago so he's got form too.

Poulter would have been my second pick, not just because he's the highest non-qualified player in the world rankings, but because of his last-day charge in The Open which would have left him as winner if Harrington had faltered over the last few holes - and who would have been questioning his inclusion then?

Answer 8

Faldo seems a bright guy, but his picks frankly were horrible.

I would have picked Clarke and Montgomerie without even thinking about it.  This is not a strokeplay event; it's fourball, alternate shot, and matchplay, so a blowup hole is less of a factor.

Plus, look at Poulter's record and compare to Clarke and Montgomerie.

Given the large number of first-time players in the European team, it would seem logical that Faldo might want a couple steady hands out there.

It's like Garcia; he's a bit c**p in majors, but in the Ryder Cup he's unbelievable.