Faldo confident over Poulter inclusion

The first time Nick Faldo was handed a wild card into the Ryder Cup he lost his opening match, did not play again until the singles – and lost that as well.

It did not matter because Europe still triumphed for the first time in 28 years.

But if the side he is now in charge of lose later this month for the first time since 1999 and Ian Poulter does not earn a point Faldo can expect to be hammered.

Rightly hammered for getting it wrong.

However, he is backing Poulter, controversially chosen ahead of Darren Clarke, to get his act back together and bring not just colour, but also quality golf to Valhalla in two weeks’ time.

Although the Open runner-up is now under incredible pressure to deliver, Faldo said: “I’ll be in his ear – he’ll be all right.

“Knowing him, I think he’s been thinking about it too much. He’s an emotional guy and he gets wound up.”

Poulter has missed his last two halfway cuts – both in America, of course, and the second of them after he made a decision not to come back to Europe to try to qualify for the team.

Many would like to have seen that choice punished with the wild card going elsewhere – it is not as if he was short of alternatives – and former European captain Bernard Gallacher believes team morale could be affected.

There is anger that Poulter has got away with not playing at Gleneagles last week, but it is what Europe could be missing that has shocked people, including American captain Paul Azinger.

Clarke and Lee Westwood have been so formidable together. They have beaten Tiger Woods three times out of three, have won their last four games and six out of eight altogether.

Only Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal have tasted victory more times in partnership in cup history – on either side.

Clarke also won all his three games last time and did so a mere six weeks after his wife died of breast cancer.

Faldo’s only concern, though, is not what other people think, but what will bring the best out of a side going for an unprecedented fourth successive victory.

Even before knowing the last four of Azinger’s team – he names them tomorrow, but can do nothing to change the odds – Europe start favourites and still would have done if Tiger Woods had not been injured.

Poulter admitted even before his early exit from the tournament in Boston on Saturday that he might have made a mistake not flying to Scotland and after he crashed out he described himself as “spent, exhausted”.

Faldo attributes that to him being “put through the wringer” over his Gleneagles decision, but he is taking a big gamble – hard as that is to believe with a player ranked in the world’s top 25.

Great though The Open was for the Woburn golfer, who still had a chance to win when he made his 15-foot closing putt, it was one of only two top 10 finishes he has had all year. The other was in January.

And the word coming back from America is that they would much rather be facing Poulter than they would Clarke – or even Colin Montgomerie given the impact the Scot has made in his eight cup appearances.

His golfing ambitions totally put into perspective by what has happened in his private life, Clarke has not blown his top over his exclusion as some would feel he is entitled to.

“Obviously I am disappointed, but I have dealt with much worse,” said the Ulsterman.

“It will make me all the more determined to make the next team.

“You will not hear any sour grapes from me. I couldn’t have tried any harder and I devoted myself to the European Tour to give myself the best possible chance, but although I have won twice this year it obviously wasn’t enough.”

He is up from 258th in the world last December to just outside the top 50.

Poulter, however, is the leading European who did not make the side on points. Paul Casey is the next at 35th and he received the other wild card.

That makes it the strongest team Europe have ever had in ranking terms. Oliver Wilson is the lowest-ranked player, but even he should move back into the top 50 tomorrow.

Wilson is one of four uncapped players – Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Soren Hansen are the others – and he is also the first ever to make the side without winning a professional tournament in his career.

He and Rose were teammates as boy internationals and partners in last year’s Seve Trophy – for one game only, however, as they lost to Markus Brier and Mikko Ilonen.

One thing Faldo will do is make his own mind up about things. He has all his career, he did with the wild cards and he has with his decision to have Jose Maria Olazabal as his only assistant.

What he also has, even with the furore over whether Clarke should be in for Poulter, is a top team.

Ian Woosnam reckoned he needed five helpers at The K Club last time, Azinger has three assistants and two of them (Ray Floyd and Dave Stockton) are former captains, but Faldo makes it sound as if even Olazabal will not be left to decide anything.

He added: “The famous line of too many cooks spoil the broth, too many chefs in the kitchen or whatever. What I learned from my experience (at the Seve Trophy) is I want to gather the information and I will make the decisions.”