The final choice was a straight one, to either pick Jesper Parnevik or Jose Maria Olazabal. Ian Woosnam, who will play out the role of assistant rather than player when the Ryder Cup takes place at The Belfry later this month, may have told European captain Sam Torrance to "go with your gut instinct," but the plain truth is Torrance went with his head in deciding to give the second captain's pick to Parnevik.

With the dogs in the street aware that Sergio Garcia had been long ago promised one "wild card", the only other option open to Torrance - although he says he agonised long and hard before opting for Parnevik ahead of Olazabal - was to go with the Swede.

His decision has not only given Europe a ready-made partnership, but an inspirational one, too. Of course it's a shame for Europe that Olazabal won't be a part of the team. No-one epitomises the Ryder Cup's spirit as much as Olazabal; and, as the man closest to the scene of the crime when the American ensemble ran on to the 17th green at Brookline after Justin Leonard holed his audacious putt two years ago, Olazabal would probably have more reason than most to enjoy the opportunity to exact revenge.

Yet it was also at Brookline that the decision was effectively made for Torrance as to which two players should constitute his captain's picks, once neither of them managed to actually make the team through the qualifying process. The partnership of Garcia and Parnevik was an awesome one in the 1999 Ryder Cup. Playing together in the foursomes and fourballs on the first two days, they won three and a half points out of four.

There was simply no way that Europe could go to the Belfry without the exuberant Spaniard and the Swede with his own unique fashion sense in the team.

And, unlike the nonsensical decision of Mark James two years ago to go with Andrew Coltart ahead of Bernhard Langer, this one makes perfect sense. Garcia has won twice on the US Tour this season and is playing the best golf of his short career, while Parnevik - who underwent hip surgery earlier this year - is a sublime ball striker and, crucially in a matchplay context, rarely misses a fairway. Parnevik's obvious compatibility with Garcia made Torrance's decision all the more understandable.

There is also reason to believe Torrance's two wild cards are stronger than the two US captain Curtis Strange nominated (Paul Azinger and Scott Verplank). And, with Garcia and Parnevik likely to play in all five matches, they are more likely to have a greater impact on the match result than their American counterparts.

Undoubtedly, the nomination of Garcia and Parnevik strengthens a European team that contains four Ryder Cup rookies in Paul McGinley, Pierre Fulke, Niclas Fasth and Phillip Price.

Of that quartet of debutants, McGinley is the one who can expect to figure most prominently. He has played alongside Padraig Harrington in winning the World Cup (at Kiawah Island in 1997, albeit in a different golfing format), and Dunhill Cup competitions and, as Torrance conceded at his press conference last evening, the partnership is likely to be resurrected at the Belfry.

In truth, McGinley is the "rookie" most likely to figure in the opening two days - and, although James came in for considerable criticism for leaving so many players idle during foursomes and fourballs at Brookline, there is every reason to believe Torrance will adapt a similar approach at The Belfry. If Europe is to regain the trophy, there will be a reliance, to the point of an over-reliance, on the team's heavyweights to deliver the knockout punches.

In that context, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood, Langer (the only European to have won a major), Harrington, Garcia and Parnevik can be expected to form the nucleus of the team.

From an Irish point of view, the inclusion of three players on the team who were nurtured on this country's golfing terrain is an historic one. Not since 1975 when Christy O'Connor Jnr, Eamonn Darcy and John O'Leary featured on the team that lost to the Americans at Laurel Valley have three Irish golfers played. On that occasion, though, it was confined to Britain and Ireland players; this is the first time three Irishmen have made a European line-up. And with Clarke and Harrington qualifying first and second respectively, there is every reason to anticipate they will be leaders rather than followers when golf's most-hyped event finally gets going.

preid@irish-times.ie