2012 European Ryder Cup Team Set

An unbylined Telgraph story on nearly unrecognizable (he shaved!) Jose Maria Olazabal announcing captain's picks Nicolas Colsaerts and Ian Poulter.

As protocol demands, Captain Ollie made the tough phone calls Sunday night, none tougher than the one to old sparring buddy Padraig Harrington.

"It's never an easy decision," he said. "Obviously there's a few more players in the mix every time. I talked to the vice-captains quite a bit regarding the picks. We studied different possibilities. We had a few discussions regarding that. The last time we talked was on Friday this week.

"It's not an easy moment. They are all disappointed. I know they really wanted to be in the team. I talked to the next four or five guys on the list – I talked to David [Lynn], to Rafa [Cabrera Bello], Alvaro [Quiros] and Padraig [Harrington]. I made those phone calls. It's not easy. I've been in that equation. They took the news well. That's the way it is."

While he's the only rookie, Bob Harig explains how the long-off-the-tee Colsaerts should have little problem with Medinah's length. And Alistair Tait says this was a long time coming for Colsaerts, a former party animal.

A Guardian slideshow of the 12 players. Besides Colsaerts and Poulter, the others: Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Paul Lawrie, Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson and Martin Kaymer.

Olazabal also talked about the state of Kaymer's game.