Golf: Analysis of teams for Ryder Cup

EUROPE

Team record: Won 74 Lost 42 Halved 21.
Have won seven of the last 10 Ryder Cups.

Captain: Ian Woosnam. Age 48. Only the third Welshman to captain a Ryder Cup side against the Americans, after Dai Rees and Brian Huggett. Played in eight Ryder Cups - on winning team four times, but never won a singles match.

Team

Darren Clarke Age 38; World rank 22. Drives Ferrari with the registration DC 60 to mark the two lowest rounds of his career. Appeared on an Irish postage stamp in 2005. Fifth Ryder Cup.

Paul Casey 29; 28. One Ryder Cup appearance, in 2004, when he lost 3&2 to Tiger Woods in singles. Winner last week of World Match-play.

Luke Donald 28; 10. Ryder Cup winner 2004, his only appearance. World Cup winner 2005. Degree in art theory and practice at US university.

Sergio Garcia 26; 8. Fourth Ryder Cup, beaten only three times in 15 matches. Beat Phil Mickelson 3&2 last time.

Padraig Harrington 35; 18. Coached by Bob Torrance, father of 2002 European Ryder Cup captain Sam. Has accounts degree.

David Howell 31; 12. Born Swindon. Played in 1995 Walker Cup against the US. Won one and lost one (hammered 6&4 by Jim Furyk) on debut in 2004.

Robert Karlsson 37; 42. One of the tallest players on the European Tour at 1.95m. Two European Tour wins this season. Cup rookie.

Paul McGinley 39; 44. Holed winning putt for Europe in 2002. First sporting love was Gaelic football but concentrated on golf after suffering a broken left knee-cap at 19.

Colin Montgomerie 43; 15. Unbeaten in Cup singles and sixth most successful player in Cup history. In 2004, at Oakland Hills, the Scot starred and holed the winning putt.

Jose-Maria Olazabal 40; 16. Aboard the 1999 European team's Concorde flight to the US, he holed a putt which travelled the length of the cabin and was in motion for 26.17 seconds. The plane and ball moved 9.232 miles - a world record for a completed putt.

Henrik Stenson 30; 17. Currently enjoying his best year on the European Tour, with wins at the Qatar Masters and the BMW International. Ryder Cup rookie.

Lee Westwood 33; 47. His fifth Cup. Began playing golf at 13 - much later than most future tournament professionals.



UNITED STATES

Team record: Won 31 Lost 39 Halved 2.
The United States' last victory was in 1999.

Captain: Tom Lehman. Age 47. World rank 39. Won British Open in 1996, the year Tiger Woods turned pro. If he had beaten Dean Wilson in a play-off in Colorado last month, he'd have earned a place in the team himself.

Team

Tiger Woods Age 30. World rank 1. Played in every possible match in five previous Cup outings but won only eight points. Problem seems to have been finding the right partner - tried 10.

Phil Mickelson 36; 2. Right-handed at everything except golf. Had a nightmare start in the 2004 Cup when paired with Tiger Woods on the first day but was unbeaten with Chris DiMarco at the 2005 President's Cup.

Jim Furyk 36; 3. Unorthodox swing described by former European Cup player David Feherty as like "a man trying to kill a snake in a phone booth". Steady and consistent, this is his fifth Cup.

Chad Campbell 32; 22. Degree in hotel restaurant management. Cup debut in 2004, when he won at singles (against Luke Donald 5&3) but was beaten twice in the four-balls.

David Toms 39; 12. Runs his own foundation for underprivileged, abused and abandoned children. Underwent surgery for a rapid heart-rate last November.

Chris DiMarco 38; 13. US' best player at the 2004 Cup (his debut) but a ski accident in March caused him to miss some playing time. Second to Tiger Woods in 2006 British Open.

Vaughn Taylor 30; 55. Six top-10 finishes in 2006. Learned the game on a public course. Never played in a match-play competition.

J.J. Henry 31; 64. Ranked 190 coming into this season. Cup rookie who recently secured his maiden PGA Tour win at the Buick Open.

Zach Johnson 30; 42. Turned pro in 1998 but it took him six years to reach the PGA Tour - then won US$2m in his debut year. Cup rookie.

Brett Wetterich 33; 57. Won his first PGA Tour event this year, the Byron Nelson Classic, One of four Cup rookies on the US team.

Stewart Cink 33; 23. Wild-card pick. Took up the game when his parents, single-digit handicappers, left him at a driving range before he was old enough to go on the course.

Scott Verplank 42; 37. Diabetic who hasn't had a PGA Tour win since the 2001 Bell Canadian Open. Surprise wild-card pick.