European Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo named British duo Paul Casey and Ian Poulter as his wildcard picks for next month's Ryder Cup match against the United States. They join Justin Rose, Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Graeme McDowell, who all qualified automatically. Poulter and Casey both opted to miss the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the last points-scoring event for the biennial matchplay contest against the Americans to be played from Sept. 19-21 at Valhalla, Kentucky. They chose instead to play the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts where they both missed the cut. Poulter, runner up at the British Open, dismayed many of his European Tour peers by deciding not to try to qualify automatically by playing at Gleneagles. The 32-year-old Englishman, who will play in his second Ryder Cup, opted instead to try to earn Fedex Cup points on the US PGA Tour. Poulter, though, got the nod over two of Europe's stalwarts Darren Clarke, winner of the Dutch Open last week, and eight-time European No. 1 Colin Montgomerie, with an outstanding Ryder Cup record. Faldo valued Poulter's second place at Royal Birkdale against Clarke and Montgomerie's experience and the Englishman's 23rd spot in the world rankings. "Ian's a very determined guy and I loved his attitude at the (British) Open Championship," Faldo told a news conference at Gleneagles. "I liked the way he played with the intention of winning - that coupled with his stats. He's the leading player on the world ranking who was not in the team." – Reuters __
