Breaking: Europeans Hate Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie Is Very Sad

Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo made the final selections for the European squad and he's been hearing about it ever since. Paul Casey and Ian Poulter got the nod over Cup-tested veterans Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie, and apparently, the only people happy about the picks are Faldo, Casey and Poulter.

Take, for example, this nameless, faceless former player:

"Faldo clearly didn't want anyone in the team room with the potential to rock his boat," points out one former Ryder Cup player who prefers to remain anonymous. "The 2004 Ryder Cup was all about Monty and his divorce; 2006 at the K Club was all about Darren and the tragic death of his wife; Nick wants Valhalla to be all about him."

It's no secret that Faldo's a narcissist, but it's less of an issue when you're playing for yourself and not actually captaining the Ryder Cup team.

But will it have an effect on the proceedings in 12 days? I'm skeptical; the Americans have been the best team on paper for a decade now, they've won just once, and that was on the back of a Justin Leonard "there's no way he's making this ... oh my God, it went in!" putt.

Unless Faldo becomes a monumental distraction, I don't think there's much he can do to sabotage Europe's chances. Plus, that'll be Monty's job.

Just how acutely he has been affected by his omission from the team became clear at Muirfield this week when he likened picking up a voicemail from Faldo last Sunday to the day when he was told his mother Elizabeth had just died after a short battle with lung cancer in 1991. Listening to Faldo explain that he wouldn't be in the team "was like losing my mum", he says.

Um, okay.