Harrington backs Faldo's choices

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Harrington last week said Darren Clarke deserved a spot on the team and Colin Montgomerie merited "serious consideration" as well, but the Irishman played a straight bat on Wednesday when asked to assess Faldo's controversial selections to round off his team to take on the United States in a fortnight.

"It's obviously very disappointing for Darren, but a captain has many reasons for picking guys and that's why you select a captain. We all expected (Clarke to be chosen), but as a player on the team you've got to go with the captain's choices," said the Open and US PGA Championship winner.

"Often during the week partnerships are put together that maybe we didn't think about and that's for the captain to do.

"He lives by it too. When the result is called in at the end of the week, if the team wins, the captain is a good captain; if the team doesn't win, the captain is always thought of as a bad captain.

"It's he who's on the line for this, and the players have to support him and pull behind him. Certainly the two players he has added to the team are good players and will help."

While American captain Paul Azinger had the luxury of four captain's picks, Faldo was limited to two in a year when four or five players had legitimate claims to selection.

But Harrington does not think the European selection system needs to be changed, given Europe has won five of the past six Ryder Cups.

"I think our qualifying system is excellent," he said. "It has worked very well in the past. Always somebody is not going to get picked and that's why you select a captain, so select a captain wisely and then trust that he knows best."