‘Dublin defeat a reminder of favourite’s tag perils’

Paul McGinley put the finishing touches to a strong European Ryder Cup team bound for Gleneagles in three weeks but admitted the fate that befell Dublin’s footballers was a stark warning about the pitfalls of favouritism.

GAA fanatic McGinley named Stephen Gallacher, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter as his captain’s picks to join nine automatic qualifiers led by world number one Rory McIlroy in a team strongly fancied to defeat Tom Watson’s US in Scotland on September 26-28.

Ryder Cup livewire Poulter had long been considered a lock for a wild card, while Westwood was chosen at the expense of fellow former world number one Luke Donald.