Europeans Grumble About Us Team's Pranks As Pain of Defeat Surfaces

There were a few predictable grumbles today from the European team defeated by five points in the Ryder Cup at the weekend, most of them focused on the behavior of two of the US's most flamboyant, and successful, players.

Ian Poulter, who won four of Europe's 11 1/2 points, complained that he had been deliberately shoulder-barged by an American player during the fourballs on Saturday. While Poulter declined to name the culprit, Anthony Kim is widely thought to be the man in question.

Cameras caught a collision between the two players as Poulter walked out of a tee box. Kim wasn't playing in the fourballs, but decided to walk the course as a spectator and was a boisterous presence as he cheered on Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk in their close fourball tussle with Poulter and Graeme McDowell.

"As opposed to walking around me as I was walking off the tee, he decided to drop his right shoulder into me," related Poulter. "You don't need that when you're playing. It's not what you'd expect from a fellow professional." Footage shows Poulter remonstrating with Kim shortly afterwards. Kim's energy, and his crushing victory over Sergio García in Sunday's singles match, have been praised by the US press as vital to the team's victory.

The other man whose energy was identified as hugely inspirational to the US team was Boo Weekley, whose rambunctious behavior irritated the Europeans as much as it delighted the Americans. Weekley, who rode his driver down the first fairway pretending it was a horse, roused the ire of Lee Westwood over the first two days of the competition. Westwood has also complained about a nuisance call to his hotel room after midnight on Saturday, while his parents, in another room, were also woken in the early hours by a prank caller.

None of the grumbling will change the result though. And as recriminations start, the European players were quick to defend their captain, Nick Faldo. García said the defeat had nothing to do with Faldo's performance. "We are the guys that need to perform well on the course and we needed to do better, it was not Nick's fault. If I'd have played better and won my match, maybe we would be talking and writing a different story."

Westwood was also reluctant to blame Faldo, saying: "The session where me and Sergio were rested was a session that we won, so Nick was right to do that." Despite the shows of support, Faldo has confirmed that he won't be seeking to captain the side in the next competition in 2010.