Blame us, not Nick, say defeated stars

Faldo's captaincy has been criticised widely outside the team room, including his decision to rest Garcia and Lee Westwood from the Saturday morning foursomes and to 'backload' the team in the singles with four key players whose matches became redundant as the Cup was lost 16½ to 11½.

"If I'd have played better and I would have won my match, maybe we would be talking and writing a different story," said Garcia, who lost the opening game against Anthony Kim. "It has nothing to do with Nick.

"We are the guys that need to perform well on the course and we needed to do better. It's not his fault."

Westwood added: "The session where me and Sergio were rested was a session we won, so Nick was right to do that. So you tell me whether Nick was right or wrong?" Faldo admitted he was unlikely to seek another chance to lead the side in 2010, saying: "I doubt it. I believe it was a one-stop shot."

But Bernard Gallacher believes he deserves a second chance and should be re-appointed captain of the team for the match at Celtic Manor in Wales.

Former skipper Gallacher, who himself-only triumphed at the third attempt at Oak Hill in New York 13 years ago, said: "Nick Faldo should be captain next time. I would go with that.

"I think he deserves a victory and another chance as he's put too much into the game and done too much for European golf."

One of Faldo's rare successes was the performance of Ian Poulter, who complained that he had been deliberately shoulder-barged by an American golfer, believed to be Anthony Kim, during the fourballs on Saturday.

He would not name his 'assailant', but cameras did show what had appeared to be a collision between Poulter and Kim as the Englishman was walking to one of the tee boxes.

Kim, the Americans' great new star, had been following the match after being rested following his loss in the morning.

"He hadn't played very well and decided to walk around in the afternoon and make his point.

"As opposed to walking around me as I was walking off the tee, he decided to drop his right shoulder into me. It's not what you'd expect from a fellow professional," said Poulter.

Lee Westwood revealed that he had been woken by a phone call in his hotel at half past midnight on the morning of yesterday's singles match and that his parents, in another room, had been woken by a call at 4.30am from someone who obviously intended to target him instead.

A man dressed in a white sheet also leapt out at him on the walk to the sixth hole.

"He just jumped out and went "Whooooo" to my face. He was still there further up the fairway. I should have set two of the blokes dressed as leprechauns on him; instead I set two policemen on him," smiled Westwood.