SERGIO Garcia has joined Colin Montgomerie in expressing surprise at the omission of Darren Clarke from the European Ryder Cup team.
Ian Poulter and Paul Casey were confirmed as captain Nick Faldo's wild-card selections on Sunday, despite Clarke – a Ryder Cup hero in 2006 – winning in Holland eight days ago.
Garcia said: "I thought Paul (Casey] was pretty much a lock (for a cap
tain's pick] and because of the way Darren has been playing lately, I thought maybe he would get the other one."
Along with Padraig Harrington, Garcia will spearhead the team to take on the Americans in Kentucky.
As for Montgomerie, Garcia recognised Faldo would have been taking a huge risk with the out-of-form Scot, notwithstanding his stellar Ryder Cup record.
"Monty has done so well at the Ryder Cup, but unfortunately he just hasn't been playing that great lately," said Garcia.
"Even though it's Monty, it's a huge risk to pick a guy who hasn't been playing his best and hope he plays his best at the Ryder Cup.
"If it goes that way, he's a hero; if he plays badly, then everybody will kill him, so I think he (Faldo] just went with what he felt was probably the best for the team, and we all respect that.
"Casey and Poulter are going to be good assets for the team. I think we're all looking forward to it and all happy that both Ian and Paul are on the team."
Garcia was speaking after continuing his recent sizzling form with a three-under-par 68 in the third round at the Deutsche Bank Championship at the Boston TPC.
He finished the day equal third with Fiji's Vijay Singh, three strokes behind Canadian leader Mike Weir, who carded 67 for 17-under 196, putting him one stroke ahead of Colombian Camilo Villegas.
After a heartbreaking runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, followed by a play-off loss to Singh last week, it goes without saying that Garcia is hoping that third time's a charm.
"I felt I deserved a couple more (birdies] but on the other hand it's not a bad round," said Garcia, whose ten-foot birdie putt at the last somehow stopped on the lip. "It wasn't an easy day out there. I'm as hungry as anybody else. I feel like I'm playing well and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
Garcia was the only European with a realistic chance going into the final round, with Swede Richard Johnson next best, six shots off the pace. Another Swede, Carl Pettersson, who was perhaps a touch unlucky not to be on the Ryder Cup team, was another stroke further back.
The two British players were a long way behind – Brian Davis trailing by ten shots, Martin Laird by 12.
The full article contains 473 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
