Nick Faldo Finalizes Ryder Cup Roster, Monty Doesn't Make the Cut

As we anxiously await the Monday finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup (chugs Red Bull), Nick Faldo has provided a temporary respite from all the excitement by announcing his two captain's picks for the European Ryder Cup team, which will commence Operation Beatdown in two short weeks on a sure-to-be hapless American bunch.

Paul Azinger, the U.S. captain will name names tomorrow, so there's plenty of drama to go around. In the meantime, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey round out the Euro squad. It's hard to argue with Casey's selection; he's been playing well all summer, but Poulter is sort of a head-scratcher.

Poulter's a fine player, but he occasionally loses his focus. And not in the good "man, Colin Montgomerie has gone mental" sense. More like: "man, Ian Poulter's game has gone to [poop] because somebody in the gallery said they didn't like his outfit" way.

The guy's got a raging case of rabbit ears and that's pretty much the worst affliction you could suffer as a Ryder Cup player. Well, you're Monty, who had an uncanny ability to hear everything and somehow channel that into his golf game.

It's just too bad he won't be around to help the Euros this year. No worriers, though; Mrs. Doubtfire has promised to be back in 2010, presumably as a captain, although he wasn't explicit about his intentions when speaking to the fine folks at the Evening Standard. On the upside, it'll give him more time to spend around the house.