An American viewpoint on the European Ryder Cup line-up

 Monty's picks make United States favourites!

After one of the more memorable Sundays in golf history, CBSSports.com senior writer Steve Elling and Augusta Chronicle columnist and golf writer Scott Michaux try not to bite off more than they can possibly chew.


Did the European points system produce the best Ryder Cup team possible?


ELLING: Uh, awk, urg, gurgle ... Trying not to spit up my Wheaties in laughter at that notion. Not only did it fail to piece together the best 12 players, it didn't come close. With an assist from the wild card picks of captain Colin Montgomerie, the visiting American side has a better chance of winning than ever before. I am putting my money where my mouth is, too. In fact, for the first time at any golf event, I am going to plunk down some greenbacks on the underdogs at Ladbrokes when I get to the UK in four weeks.
First, the last-minute tumult in the Euro points standings landed a spot for rookie Peter Hanson, plus longtime Ryder underachiever Miguel Angel Jimenez and his 2-7-3 record. Then Monty picked Padraig Harrington, who hasn't won in two years or logged a single win in a Ryder match in his last two appearances, and skipped over more-deserving players like Justin Rose and Paul Casey.
Monty said he leaned toward personalities and pairings matchups with his three picks. From a jingoistic standpoint, the Euro points system was a spectacular success -- for the American side. Casey's coach, Peter Kostis, nailed it Monday: "It sucks when you can't manage to get a player with two big PGA Tour wins [Rose] or a guy ranked No. 9 in the world [Casey] on the team. Their system is even more convoluted than FedEx Cup points."


MICHAUX: The Europeans are so arrogant with their "we are better than the U.S." team attitude that it might just cost them what many considered a slam-dunk victory in Wales as recently as a month ago. The convoluted points system produced the most underwhelming collection of 12 players from among the all-star candidates that it possibly could have.
I liken it to a round when you hit every fairway and green and still shoot even par. Trading talent like Casey and Rose (presumably because they are too PGA Tour-centric) for Hanson and Jimenez is turning birdies into pars (or bogeys).
Now a Euro squad that we all presumed would be loaded with Ryder Cup veterans has six rookies, a top star in Lee Westwood coming off a six-week injury layoff, another in Harrington who is in a two-year drought and a 46-year-old in Jimenez.
Ironically, if they'd place priority value on their own Euro points half of the equation, it would have produced a better squad without all the controversy. The first four guys were the same on both points lists -- Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. If they'd added the fifth guy on the Euro points list (Ian Poulter) and then taken the next four guys on the world rankings list (Luke Donald, Edoardo Molinari, Harrington and Rose), suddenly all three of your captain's picks are automatically in and Monty's life becomes a lot easier.
Monty could have taken Casey and any other two he wanted without any fuss at all. And he would have had five guys enjoying the benefit of riding the US PGA Tour play-off surge into Wales