Padraig Sure He Would Have Picked Padraig, Too

But he's light on the justification for why he would pick himself. Well, he's got a few years before he's a Captain and a spin master, so we'll cut him some slack.

Lawrence Donegan reports:

"Absolutely, 100%," he says when asked if he would have picked himself. Asked to explain his certitude, and to measure his worth against that of the two players controversially overlooked by Montgomerie – Casey and Justin Rose – he demurs. "I'm comfortable with my opinion but I'm not going to say why."

Harrington, golf's most loquacious man, in "no comment" shock! Still, it is easy for others to make the calculations. In a team containing six rookies, the Irishman brings the extra ballast that comes with winning three majors. He has the experience of playing on five Ryder Cup teams, and winning three times. There may be better pure golfers on both teams, but it is doubtful whether anyone is more mentally equipped to cope with the pressure of the 1st tee in Wales.

“You really don’t have a decision to make on the Twenty Ten golf course until you get to the 14th tee."

Mark Lamport-Stokes talks to Celtic Manor director of golf Jim McKenzie about the par-71 masterwork hosting the Ryder Cup and talks to him about the seven risk-reward holes. Thanks to reader Don for catching the quote that probably won't make some of us get up at 3 a.m. to watch the early holes of play.

In McKenzie’s view, the venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup effectively boils down to the final five holes in matchplay terms.

“You really don’t have a decision to make on the Twenty Ten golf course until you get to the 14th tee,” the Scot said during a telephone interview.

Show Me The Golf.com's Johnny Bryan takes us through the stretch where the decision making begins. Look past the kitchen sink of special effects and the 2 minute long intro,  because there are several interesting things to see here with the course, the setup and the grandstands going up.