Golf/Ryder Cup: If his hands were tied somewhat by a curious qualifying system that contrived to produce four rookies on the US team for the Ryder Cup at The K Club next month, Tom Lehman didn't intend to add insult to injury by opting for yet more new blood in naming his two captain's picks at Medinah yesterday.

After a restless night spent considering the merits of a shortlist of six, he decided on Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank, who have both benefited from such wild-card selections before. John Rollins, who had finished 11th in the US qualifying; Corey Pavin, one of his assistant captains; Davis Love, who had played on the last six Ryder Cup teams, and Lucas Glover were the other players on Lehman's shortlist.

"I wasn't married to only picking guys with experience, I was married to picking the two guys who I thought were going to make our team the best team," claimed Lehman, who opted for Cink - who had placed 12th - and Verplank - who finished 20th - in the US Ryder Cup table.

Interestingly, Lehman also kept a separate qualifying ranking of his own, based purely on finishes by American players (not just those finishing in the top-10), and Cink was ranked sixth on that list, with Verplank ninth.

"Our guys are clued in, and ready to go," said Lehman of the match, where the US will be seeking a first win since Brookline in 1999. The last time they won outside of the US was at the Belfry in 1993.

As part of the US team's build-up to the match on September 22nd-24th, Lehman has chartered a flight that will take them from Cleveland (on Sunday, after the Bridgestone Invitational) to Dublin before heading down to Straffan for a two-day bonding session. They will familiarise themselves with the course and indulge in some fly-fishing on the Liffey.

Ten of the 12 players are confirmed for the trip, although Tiger Woods, who has a commitment with his charitable foundation next Tuesday, and Phil Mickelson, who also has commitments with his sponsors, are not as yet.

The trip is part of a change in strategy as the Americans seek to regain their dominance of the match. Although the US has won 24, lost nine and drawn two encounters, the pendulum has swung Europe's way in recent years. Europe has won four of the last five matches.

Lehman's captaincy has been one of inclusion.

"I would say the one thing that I feel like I've done best is I've included all my guys into getting their opinions about things. Any time you do that, it becomes a more cohesive unit," he said.

With the rookies in the US team - Vaughn Taylor, JJ Henry, Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich - following the qualifying campaign, and no changes to the automatic places after the US PGA, Lehman felt compelled to go for experience. The biggest loser here was Glover, whom Lehman had rated highly.

"The call to Lucas may have been the hardest phone call, simply because there's times in your life when you have this gut feeling about somebody and you can't exactly put your finger on what it is and why," Lehman explained. "You kind of feel like there's something special, and I feel he has that quality.

"He was very disappointed. The thing I can say is, I've been there (passed over for a pick). I know what it feels like, and it has nothing do with respect or a lack of admiration. It's just you simply make the two picks you think are best for the team."

Still, neither of Lehman's wild cards is a regular tournament winner. Cink's last tournament win came in the NEC Invitational in 2004, while Verplank's last win was in the 2001 Canadian Open. Verplank got a pick from Curtis Strange for the 2002 match at the Belfry, winning two out of three matches to be America's top player; Cink got a pick from Hal Sutton for the 2004 match in Detroit, where he collected one-and-a-half points from a possible four.

"What I'm really wanting, more than anything, is a team that is just tough. Strong guys who will never give up, never quit.

"Our team is unbelievably motivated to win, there's not one guy on the team who is going over there to finish second," said Lehman, who contacted every one of the players placed between 11th and 25th in the final qualifying table. Most of the phone calls were made on Sunday night, after which he had that shortlist of six. He decided to sleep on the matter, before making the final decision.

Verplank, who had two runner-up finishes early in the season before suffering a shoulder injury, only got back in contention for an automatic place with a tied-fourth finish in the Buick Open. "To me, there's nothing like going on the road and winning at someone else's house," he said. "I think it's such a great event. To me, it's the premier event in the world. I haven't won a major, maybe one day I will have that chance and get that done. But I don't know how you could be any higher or have a better event than the Ryder Cup. I told Tom I was put on this earth to play in things like this, so I'll be ready to go. I am so fired up."

While the American team has been finalised, Europe's qualifying campaign won't conclude until after next week's BMW International in Munich when Ian Woosnam will name his two picks, one of which has apparently been promised to Darren Clarke.