BBC SPORT | Golf | Ryder Cup | Golfers in a hole



By Dan Warren BBC Sport Online

The reasons may have changed, but the arguments over Ryder Cup selection are as strong as ever this year.

After last year's decision to postpone the tournament, one of the seemingly less-controversial aspects was the decision of the captains to stick with the same teams.

But the agreement has left both the US and Europe fielding teams which are very different to those which would have been picked had selection been decided this year.

And many on this side of the pond fear Europe are already beaten as they head to the Belfry with a glut of out-of-form players.

If the European team was picked this year...

Players in

Padraig Harrington

Colin Montgomerie

Niclas Fasth

Sergio Garcia

Thomas Bjorn

Players out:

Darren Clarke

Pierre Fulke

Lee Westwood

Paul McGinley

Bernhard Langer

Phillip Price

Jesper Parnevik

Yet the odds may not be as stacked in favour of the Americans as many fear.

Certainly there are some Europeans who find themselves a pale shadow of the players they were a year ago.

Lee Westwood has suffered more than anyone from a slump in form.

Top of the Volvo Order of Merit in 2000, Westwood has endured a nightmare year which has seen him slump to 72nd in the European Tour rankings.

And Irishman Paul McGinley has fared little better, finding himself down in the doldrums of 45th.

Some players, of course, would have been picked in any case, such as Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjorn.

But neither is in inspiring form, with both failing to make the cut at the USPGA in August, and Montgomerie still plagued by injury.

Hal Sutton is 136th on the US Tour money list.
Hal Sutton will not be turfed out of the US team

Then again, European captain Sam Torrance said he was not worried by the poor showings in Hazeltine, saying "the USPGA has never been a great one for us".

If that is true, then equally it would be fair to say the Americans do not take kindly to the changeable conditions which afflict our links courses.

Scott Hoch was the only American to make the top 10 at this year's Open in Muirfield, with the supposedly unbeatable Tiger Woods way off the pace.

And the weather at the Belfry in early autumn will not appeal to anyone from over the pond - not even Woods.

Plus the Americans are as as afflicted as the Europeans when it comes to players dropping out of form.

If the American team was picked this year...

Players in

Tiger Woods

Phil Mickelson

David Toms

Jim Furyk

Players out:

David Duval

Mark Calcavecchia

Davis Love

Scott Hoch

Hal Sutton

Stewart Cink

Paul Azinger

Scott Verplank

True, Woods and Phil Mickelson remain first and second respectively in the world rankings - and will definitely bring quality to the tournament.

But David Duval's drop in form since the 2001 Open has been dramatic - while Hal Sutton finds himself 136th in the money list on the US Tour.

Stewart Cink is well off the pace, and Mark Calcavecchia and Scott Hoch are both struggling to re-discover the form of 12 months ago.

And what of the talent - for both teams - that will not get a chance to perform?

Justin Rose, Jose-Maria Olazabal and Soren Hansen would be staking their claims for the European team, while Justin Leonard, Jerry Kelly - and maybe even Rich Beem - would be pressing for a US call-up.

This year's tournament will doubtless be as passionate and dramatic as the others.

But whether the standard will be up to the classic clashes of recent years remains to be seen.