Montgomerie picks Molinari, Harrington, Donald

Colin Montgomerie has named Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Edoardo Molinari as the three men to complete his line-up.

Colin Montgomerie, faced with arguably the most difficult decision any Captain has had regarding wild cards, has named Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Edoardo Molinari as the three men to complete his line-up.

They join automatic qualifiers Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher, Francesco Molinari, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Peter Hanson in Europe’s Ryder Cup Team.

Montgomerie was left with five players in the Official World Golf Ranking Top 22 chasing a pick.

No brothers have played in the same match since Bernhard and Geoff Hunt in 1963 and Edoardo Molinari piled on the pressure with a three-birdie finish to win the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in dramatic fashion.

In Harrington's favour was that he was the only three-time Major winner amongst the candidates.

The biggest pluses for Donald, who missed the last match following wrist surgery, were that he has lost only one of seven Ryder Cup games, has a perfect four wins out of four in foursomes, was third at The Celtic Manor Resort in June's Celtic Manor Wales Open and was ranked tenth in the world.

Casey was one higher than that and his head-to-head record also strengthened his hand. He won the World Match Play at Wentworth in 2006 and was a finalist in the last two World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play in Arizona.

Rose scored three points out of four on his debut, partnering Poulter to two wins and beating Phil Mickelson in the singles. He also had two brilliant US PGA Tour victories earlier this summer.

And then there was Edoardo Molinari, whose brother clinched his debut on Thursday when England's Ross McGowan pulled out of the final counting event through injury.

They won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup together last November and Edoardo, winner of The Challenge Tour last season, also staked his claims by winning the Dunlop Phoenix title in Japan and the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond - as well as coming second to Ernie Els in the US PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Only eight of the American side are known at the moment. Captain Corey Pavin adds four wild cards on Tuesday week and Tiger Woods is among those waiting for a call.

After announcing that Sergio Garcia will join the team as a fourth Vice Captain, Montgomerie went on to explain the reasons behind his three picks.

He said: "Padraig Harrington has won three Major Championships in the last three years...the stature of Padraig...he is someone we feel that nobody in match play golf wants to play.

"He is a great competitor and someone that will bring everything to The Team that we know about European golf.

"Luke Donald has played seven times in Ryder Cup and has lost only once.

"And Edoardo Molinari, what can one say about his performance today?

"In my time on the European Tour, over 24 years, I have never seen a finish like that. All credit to him, having to win and doing just that."

Montgomerie suggested he already knew his three picks before the Gleneagles event but admitted this evening he may have been stretching the truth.

He said: "I was lying at that stage!

"What Edoardo Molinari did this week was incredible, he is the kind of player we need to regain The Ryder Cup.

"I have managed to speak to some of the players today, to let people know of a decision which will go against them.

"I haven't spoken to Paul Casey as he is playing but I have spoken to Justin Rose as he was on the driving range.

"But I thought it was better for him to hear from me.

"I must have made a dozen phone calls today, I wasn't on to apologise because we have an embarrassment of riches."

Asked if had pulled rank over his Vice Captains - Darren Clarke, Thomas Björn, Paul McGinley and Garcia- Montgomerie replied: "I have not managed to pull rank at this stage and that's a good thing.

"I've been very fortunate to have three (and now four) Vice Captains. I spoke to Sergio in Spain for his advice this afternoon.

"We are all unanimous in our decision that we have the strongest possible team for Europe.

"I just want to think positively about the team that we have selected. I think the three picks are strong in every way. We are thinking about pairings.

"Since my day - I was a Ryder Cup rookie in 1991 - I don't think any Captain has had the difficulty I have had today picking three from a possible ten.

"It has been fraught in so many ways but watching Edoardo birdie the last three holes, he has made our job very easy for us with his performance today."

Montgomerie said it was not the case that Edoardo Molinari had to win at Gleneagles to be one of the three wild cards.

"It made our job easier that he did win but I don't think he had to win. What he did in the first three rounds was enough to show us that this player can handle incredible pressure.

"I don't think I have to tell you who his partner will be in the fourballs or foursomes."