Clarke: 'half the Ryder Cup Team Are Surprised I Won't Be There'

Bemusement over Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup selection policy extends to those whom he will captain, it seems, as it emerged last night that many making the trip to Kentucky had contacted Darren Clarke to express their amazement at his omission from the team to face the US this month.

"Half of the guys have been in touch over the last day to say how disappointed they are for me, and to say how surprised they are that I won't be going with them," the Irishman said last night. "I have to say I was quite surprised myself."

Clarke, a veteran of five Ryder Cups and twice a winner on the European tour this season, was the most obvious - and most controversial - omission when Faldo unveiled his team on Sunday and announced he had chosen Ian Poulter and Paul Casey as his two picks.

Those left out received courtesy phone calls from Faldo, or in the case of Colin Montgomerie, another veteran of past glories, a courtesy voicemail. Clarke was at home in Manchester when he received the news. "I spoke to Nick for less than a minute. He just told me that I wasn't going to be one of his captain's picks. He didn't offer an explanation for his choice and I didn't ask him," he said.

If the Irishman professed himself uninterested in Faldo's motives, there were plenty of others who were. There was almost universal agreement within the game that Casey was an automatic choice for one of the picks, but the decision to select Poulter has divided opinion.

Both have strong credentials, but for some, Poulter's decision not to play in the Johnnie Walker Championship, where he could have earned an automatic spot on the team, tipped the balance in favor of Clarke. There was also the Irishman's recent win in the Netherlands - a victory many assumed had secured a place.

"Two wins and five top-10 finishes wasn't bad for the season, and to be honest I thought I had done enough. All year I had been reading that Nick's main thing was going to be picking players on form," said Clarke. "But it is his choice and that's that. It is my own fault I didn't play myself into one of the automatic slots. I shouldn't have had to rely on a pick."

The Irishman dismissed out of hand the suggestion that a lack of warmth between himself and Faldo, contrasted with the warm friendship between the captain and Poulter, had influenced the decision.

"Absolute rubbish. I have known Nick for a long time and played with him lots and we have never had any problems," he said. "I know how difficult the captain's job is. Hopefully, I will be Ryder Cup captain one day and if I am, I will face tough decisions. That's part of the job, and that's why I have no axes to grind today. All I can do is wish Nick and the guys all the best."

Pressed to say what he would miss most by not playing, the Irishman said, simply, "everything". Pressed to predict the winner in an 18-hole, head-to-head contest on any course in the world between Ian Poulter and Darren Clarke he said even more: "I'll leave others to make their choice, but I know who I would pick."