Former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher believes Nick Faldo's decision to select Ian Poulter for next month's match against the United States may adversely affect morale in Europe's team.
Poulter skipped the Johnnie Walker Championship, where he could have earned the points to qualify by right, in favour of playing in America this week.
However Faldo chose England's Poulter and Paul Casey as his wild-card selections for the match at Valhalla, Kentucky, with Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke among the hopefuls who missed out.
Gallacher said: "I'm surprised Ian Poulter didn't come back and fight for his place, and I think the morale in the team might be a bit lower for picking Poulter ahead of Darren Clarke.
"I just felt there was a dead certainty for it to be Darren Clarke and Paul Casey."
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Gallacher said: "I'm fairly shocked and very surprised. Nick's his own man and he's a controversial person."
He added: "There will be a few players today thinking, 'Nick, I think you've made a mistake'," he said.
"I don't think Ian Poulter will let the team down. But he (Poulter) didn't turn up to the last event and Darren's the form guy. Ian Poulter has missed the last two cuts."
Gallacher captained the European team in 1991, 1993 and 1995, and said: "I'm very surprised Darren Clarke wasn't picked.
"Darren Clarke has won two tournaments on the European Tour this year (BMW Asian Open and KLM Open). He won a tournament two weeks ago in a very strong field on a tough course.
"He's got a great Ryder Cup record.
"In the past he's played well with Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia."
Gallacher added: "I don't want to pull the team down. Nick's his own man.
"I just had a sneaking feeling at the back of my mind that Nick Faldo would do something different.
"He (Faldo) is slightly controversial and he's lived up to it."
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