American captain Tom Lehman handed his two wildcards to Stewart Cink and Scott Verplank ahead of next month's Ryder Cup at the K Club.

It means Davis Love will not be part of the American side for the first time since 1991.

Verplank is given a wild card just as he was in 2002. He was the first uncapped American to be handed one then and qualified only 20th on the table this time.

Cink needed a captain's pick for the last match. He finished 12th in the points table, but has shown more consistency in recent weeks than anybody else in the running.

Love appeared to be playing himself into the team when he was just one off the lead at the halfway stage of US PGA championship at Medinah.

But he fell away to 34th with weekend rounds of 73 and 76 and played his last three holes bogey, double bogey, bogey.

Many would still have expected him to be given a wild card, but Lehman had other ideas.

There are five changes from the team thrashed two years ago.

Out go Love, Chris Riley, Kenny Perry, Fred Funk and Jay Haas and into their places come Verplank and uncapped quartet Vaughn Taylor, JJ Henry, Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich.

The last four of those are respectively ranked 57th, 74th, 37th and 61st in the world and have only limited experience internationally.

But the United States also have the top three players in the world - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk - plus three more in the top 20 in Chris DiMarco, David Toms and Chad Campbell.

Woods and Furyk are expected to be partners, as are Mickelson and DiMarco. They were winners together in the Presidents Cup last year.

United States Ryder Cup team:

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Chad Campbell, David Toms, Chris Dimarco, Vaughn Taylor JJ Henry, Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich, *Stewart Cink, *Scott Verplank