An embarrassment of riches

Debate will rumble on in club houses all over Europe and beyond as to who should be in the final 12, but after much speculation, European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has selected Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Edoardo Molinari as his wildcard picks.

Italian Molinari, 29, won the Johnnie Walker Championship on Sunday to impress Montgomerie and earn his spot ahead of Paul Casey and Justin Rose.

Molinari joins brother Francesco, an automatic qualifier, on the team. Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez sealed the last two qualifying places after finishing well at Gleneagles.

Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher and Francesco occupied the top seven places in the Ryder Cup rankings to also qualify automatically.

Five of the team - McIlroy, Kaymer, Fisher, Hanson and both Molinaris - will all be making their Ryder Cup debuts at Celtic Manor from October 1 to 3.

Montgomerie claimed Molinari 'probably didn't need to win' in Perthshire to earn a pick, however, he heaped lavish praise on the 2009 World Cup winner after he birdied his last three holes to snatch a one-shot victory from Australian Brett Rumford.

The Molinari brothers, who won the World Cup together in China last year, will become the first siblings to play in the Ryder Cup since Bernard and Geoff Hunt played for Britain in their 1963 defeat against the US. They will be formidable opponents for whoever they play and no American pairing will be overly confident of taking points off the duo.

Edoardo's inclusion was bad news for Englishmen Casey and Rose, both competing in the final round of The Barclays, the first event of the four-round FedEx Cup, in New Jersey.

Montgomerie revealed he had informed Rose, a two-time winner on the US Tour this season, of his decision as he prepared on the range ahead of his final round in New Jersey. He will, though, be selected if Westwood fails to recover from an ongoing calf injury.

There was always a risk for the so-called 'FedEx four' of Rose, Casey, Harrington and Donald, none of which had done enough to qualify automatically but all of whom had strong cases to be included.

Whether you agree with Monty or not, he was in possibly the most privileged position of any past European Captain in terms of the embarrassment of riches at his disposal and the decision of who to leave out must have been tough.

Possible partnerships, experience, form, and strengths in their game would have been factors, but being able to leave out the world number 9 and a man who has won twice this season in the US shows the strength of the other candidates.

Captain Corey Pavin is set to add his four wildcards on September 7, with world number one Tiger Woods among those hoping for a pick and trying his best to impress.

It is play-off season on the PGA Tour as I mentioned previously, and one member of the US team hitting top form is Matt Kuchar.

Former US Amateur Champion Kuchar birdied the first hole of a sudden death play-off with Martin Laird to win The Barclays and go top of the FedEx Cup play-off standings.

Laird stood on the 18th tee with a one-shot lead needing only a par four to close out his second PGA Tour title.

Unfortunately for the Scot, he three putted for a five to sign for a level-par round of 71. And Kuchar completed Laird's nightmare when the players returned to the 18th to contest the first extra hole.

So whilst Laird reflects on his 72nd hole mistake, Rose and Casey get over their disappointments and Harrington, Donald and all of Italy celebrates the attention now turns to Pavin...

Tiger or no Tiger, that is the question?