(Sports Network) - On Sunday and Tuesday, the two Ryder Cup captains will all but seal their respective legacies. Neither Nick Faldo nor his American counterpart Paul Azinger will strike a single shot at Valhalla in three weeks. Faldo's 10 automatic qualifiers will be decided by Sunday afternoon and Azinger's eight guys have been fitted with uniforms since the PGA.

So what makes the next few days so special? Faldo and Azinger have to make their captain's picks and what they do with them will define their respective captaincies.

Lanny Wadkins believed he set up Oak Hill perfectly for the American team. The rough was thick, which was fine since back in 1995 the U.S. was known for hitting fairways.

He took the obvious choice in Fred Couples, then went outside the box (by almost a decade) to select Curtis Strange. Lee Janzen ended up with three wins that year, but Strange was still the guy, despite being winless since the 1989 U.S. Open.

Strange went 0-3 and lost a crucial singles match to Faldo that secured the massive Cup upset for Europe. It's all anyone talks about from Wadkins' captaincy.

Everyone believed Seve Ballesteros would be a hands-on captain. His only problem was that three players deserved to be two of his captain's picks -- Faldo, Jesper Parnevik and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Ballesteros had a solution. Miguel Angel Martin made it on points, but had wrist surgery weeks before the competition. Ballesteros asked him to pass a test to see if he could go. Martin told him to go pound sand. Ballesteros told him adios and he would be replaced by the 11th player in the standings.

Olazabal.

Captain's picks were awarded to Faldo and Parnevik. Europe wins.

Mark James shocked the European golf community in 1999. He tapped Andrew Coltart, who finished 12th in the final rankings, when almost all in the golf world suspected Bernhard Langer or an in-form (and 11th on the points list) Robert Karlsson.

James believed in Coltart so much he sat Coltart until Sunday singles. He got sacrificed to Tiger Woods that fateful Sunday afternoon in Boston en route to the epic comeback.

James will forever be remembered as the guy who sat three guys, including one of his own picks, until Sunday, then getting trounced. Most believe Langer would have played before Sunday.

So that's the criticism that awaits and believe me, Faldo and Azinger will get it. They both face tough choices ahead, but for different reasons.

Assuming Faldo's side remains the way it started at the dawn of the Johnnie Walker Championship, Justin Rose, Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson will round out his side.

They join two-time major winner this year Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Robert Karlsson, Henrik Stenson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Graeme McDowell.

The last time Colin Montgomerie wasn't on a European Ryder Cup team, George Bush (web|news|bio) was the President of the United States. Amazingly, it was not the current occupant of the Oval Office, but his father.

Monty has been on every Ryder Cup team since 1991. That streak ends this year. Montgomerie has not done enough to warrant a pick. His record in this event is a stunning 20-9-7 and he's never lost in singles. Unfortunately, too many players are more deserving of one of Faldo's picks.

Darren Clarke owns two wins this year, including last week's KLM Open. He's been on every team since 1997 and seemingly has locked up a spot.

That leaves Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, plus a dark-horse who hasn't received enough attention.

Poulter was gutsy in finishing second to Harrington at the British Open, but rubbed some the wrong way this week. Poulter elected to play in the Deutsche Bank Championship on the PGA Tour to preserve his status in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He could've stayed in Europe and tried to play his way on to the team.

That could open the door for Casey, who has been in the last two Ryder Cups, while Poulter has only participated in the 2004 event. Casey stayed in the U.S. for the FedEx Cup, but has not been outside the top 26 in an event since the U.S. Open.

Casey tied for seventh last week at The Barclays and is floating in the hunt in Boston. The other pick should be his.

But what about Carl Pettersson?

He is a Swede by birth, but has lived in the U.S. most of his life. Pettersson won the Wyndham Championship earlier this month. He is in the mix at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but that doesn't finish until Monday due to the American holiday.

If Pettersson wins on Monday, Faldo's picks will already be recorded. (Some media outlets reported that the picks might come on Monday.) How can you leave off a player with two wins in the three weeks leading up to the finalization of the team?

No matter which combination Faldo chooses, his team gets better. Even if he were to shock us all and pick Monty, his two picks come in and make an already strong team even more likely to retain the Cup.

Azinger only wishes he had that type of decision.

When Woods announced his was done for the year, Azinger's team immediately became weak. No matter Woods' Ryder Cup record, he's still good for 2 1/2 points and Ryder Cups have been decided by much less.

Phil Mickelson, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Boo Weekley and Ben Curtis are the automatic eight. That's three rookies, two guys who have never won a Ryder Cup match (Perry and Leonard) and the other three are a combined 18-29-10.

Azinger really needs help since 1/3 of his team has not been finalized. He got the PGA of America to change the scoring system to get the players at the time of the matches and even lobbied to get four picks. Those picks are coming weeks later than normal in the hopes of getting the hottest players heading into the Ryder Cup.

"Hottest" may not be the right word.

In the two events that Azinger has looked at potential picks, the only American player to register two top 10s is Kevin Streelman. He doesn't exactly feel like a captain's pick, but if Azinger wants the best golfers now, Streelman should be in the discussion.

Rich Beem, J.J. Henry, Scott McCarron, Briny Baird, Jerry Kelly, Shane Bertsch, Mark Wilson and Kevin Sutherland have top 10s. Again, this doesn't make Faldo's heart shutter in fear. At least Curtis and Leonard were in the top 10 last week.

In the middle of the second round of the Deutsche Bank, Baird is near the top of the leaderboard and D.J. Trahan is top 10. The other Americans fall in the "maybe not" category.

So who can Azinger take?

Streelman is back near the top of the leaderboard in Boston. As unlikely as this sounds, another top 10 should be enough to get Streelman a ticket to Valhalla.

That leaves three more. If Azinger is looking for Ryder Cup experience, he should just take himself. The players in the mix after top eight from the PGA have very little international team experience, let alone Ryder Cup appearances.

Zach Johnson was on the losing side in 2006, but he's already been knocked out of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Can't pick him.

Steve Stricker has two Presidents Cup appearances. Woody Austin fell into the water at the last Presidents Cup and Hunter Mahan was one of Jack Nicklaus' picks in Canada.

Are those the three guys?

Austin has not done a thing lately and should be out. Stricker and Mahan were in the hunt at The Barclays until the weekend rolled around.

Who else do you like? Trahan? Sean O'Hair? Brandt Snedeker? Rocco Mediate? The picks just aren't there for Azinger.

The captain said not too long ago he wasn't opposed to taking someone from a different tour than the PGA Tour. In the spirit of Sen. McCain thinking "outside the box" with his VP choice of Gov. Palin, how about this.

Fred Funk won The Tradition two weeks ago on the Champions Tour. He is one off the lead after the first round of the Wal-Mart First Tee Open at Pebble Beach. With a win on Sunday, Funk would have two in the three weeks since the PGA, and he played in the Ryder Cup in 2004. Funk hits the fairway and a 52-year- old could still play once a day.

So that's what it's down to for Azinger. Funk, Streelman, Baird and Stricker? My hunch tells me barring anything crazy, it'll be Stricker, Mahan, Trahan and maybe Funk with a win. If not, it really might be Streelman.

Faldo and Azinger are prepared for the criticism, but are they prepared for the picks? At this point, yes.

It's just a lot easier for Faldo.



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