Poulter & Casey: got the nod

It's the topic that's got the whole of golf talking... did Nick Faldo get his wild card picks right?

Ian Poulter and Paul Casey were the two men selected to join Europe's Ryder Cup team with the likes of Darren Clarke, Martin Kaymer, Nick Dougherty and Colin Montgomerie all being overlooked.

Clarke's omission has caused the most surprise as the five-time Ryder Cupper was in fine form after winning the KLM Open just one week before Faldo had to make his picks.

Golf Night has been at the centre of the debate all week and on Thursday we threw the debate out to the players at the Omega European Masters.

Here is what they had to say...

RAPHAEL JACQUELIN
I'm not surprised at the picks, Casey and Poulter deserve to be in the team. They've played pretty good in the World Championship, the majors and the rest so I agree with it.

BARRY LANE
I would have thought he'd go for Casey and either Poulter or Darren because Darren obviously won the week before. I don't know whether that changed his mind or he already had who he thought he was going to pick. Darren winning in Holland and winning two tournaments this year obviously put him into the mix as well.
MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ
The only thing I feel is he cannot pick all people. It's a pity Darren's not there, but that doesn't make it wrong. He's made the right picks.


JEAN VAN DE VELDE
Two great picks. There's always going to be controversy around picks and everybody's going to have an opinion, which you're entitled to. But at the end of the day that's why they're picks. Choosing Poulter who almost won the Open and Paul, who's a world-class player, there's not much you can say about it.
GONZALO FERNANDEZ-CASTANO
I think it was a bit of a surprise for everybody. I was expecting Darren Clarke to be in the team and I feel really sorry for him because I think he made a really big effort to get into the team. I'm sure he's disappointed right now, but it's still a strong team.
PAUL BROADHURST
He could have picked two of probably five or six and that wasn't a great surprise, although Darren's probably unlucky not to get in the team.


BRADLEY DREDGE
I thought they were two very good picks. My impression all along was you've got eight or 10 guys that Faldo could have picked. He could have picked Dougherty and Kaymer and I think he could have justified picking those two as well as Casey and Poulter. I think he was in a situation whereby he could have picked any two of 10 and felt quite comfortable about it.

Click on the video in the top-right of your screen to see the views of Mark Roe and Denis Pugh.