Azinger: insisted on four wildcards

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United States Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger has named Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan, JB Holmes and Chad Campbell as his four wildcards for the Ryder Cup at Valhalla later this month.

Azinger is the first captain on either side to have four 'picks', insisting on the move in a bid to end the United States' humiliating run of three straight defeats, the last two by record margins.

Three of the wildcards are Ryder Cup rookies, while Chad Campbell has played in the last two matches, picking up two points from a possible six.

Holmes, a Kentuckian who knows Valhalla 'like the back of his hand' according to Azinger, is the only one of the four who has won an event this year; the Phoenix Open.

The four join Stewart Cink, Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis, Justin Leonard and Boo Weekley, who all qualified for the team automatically.

Predicted

Stricker's selection was widely predicted - at eight in the world, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are the only Americans above him.

The 41-year-old former World Match Play champion was in position to qualify until Curtis finished joint second at the USPGA three weeks ago.

It will be his first Ryder Cup cap, but he played in the Presidents Cup last year and back in 1996, the season in which he also won the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews with Mickelson and Mark O'Meara.

Azinger presumably spent no time deciding on Stricker, but his hope that three others might come flying to the fore in the last few weeks - he asked for extra time to consider things so that he could choose players in form - simply has not happened.

Of the last nine US Tour events the only two American winners were the little-known pair Chez Reavie and Parker McLachlin. Vijay Singh won three, Padraig Harrington the last two majors and Sweden's Richard Johnson and Carl Pettersson one each.

Holmes is known for his big-hitting, but what was also in his favour is that, like Kenny Perry, he is from Kentucky and will have home-state support.

While he ranks third in driving distance on the US Tour this year, he ranks 199th in driving accuracy.

Slaves

Mahan is the player who only a month ago in a magazine article talked about Ryder Cup players being used as "slaves" and hinted at possible boycotts in the future because the fun had been sucked out of it.

Campbell's selection is a clear indication of how hard it has been for Azinger to find somebody in form.

Five years ago when he was runner-up to Shaun Micheel at the USPGA, Campbell was widely tipped to go on to great things. But it has not happened.

Nor has he played particularly well lately. He was seventh in Boston on Monday, but his two results before that were 65th and a missed cut.

Among the other options were Rocco Mediate, the 45-year-old who pushed Woods to a play-off in the US Open in June, 44-year-olds Scott Verplank and Woody Austin or youngsters Brandt Snedeker, Sean O'Hair or DJ Trahan.

Azinger told a press conference he had phoned just one player to break the news that he was not in the team, but he would not reveal who that player was.