Rafferty calls for end to Faldo bashing

Former Ryder Cup star Ronan Rafferty has called for an end to the "whinging" about skipper Nick Faldo.

The Ulsterman, now a TV pundit with Setanta Golf, reckons Faldo has taken enough stick for his controversial wild card choices.

Calling on Europe to get behind the captain, Rafferty said: "Faldo really had a pool of four players to pick from and he went with Ian Poulter and Paul Casey in the end. There will be a raucous crowd in the States and maybe Faldo looked for players he thinks can cope with this noisy environment.

"The media coverage on Faldo’s wild card picks needs to stop right now. We need everyone behind the European challenge and there will be plenty to write about - if we win. Once the picks were made there was nothing anyone could do about them.

"I liken it to football where you have a stadium full of ‘managers’ who think they all know better. The captain lives or breaths by his decisions and you have to respect them.

"Faldo has been there and done it. He has six Major titles and what have the rest of them got? The ones who are whinging and complaining, what have they ever done?"

Warrenpoint ace Rafferty, who won just one of his three games in the 1989 Ryder Cup at the Belfry, reckons Faldo is laying the foundations for future Ryder Cup success by opting for young blood.

He added: "The Europe side has a good crop of youngsters which means we can start to put the foundations in place for the next batch of Ryder Cup stars. This will have a knock on effect with their mates believing they can also make it onto the team in the future.

"I think apart from Phil Mickelson, there are no really strong players on the American side and Phil is Phil! So you never know which one is going to turn up from week to week. He is either brilliant or poor."