If the Ryder Cup were a pot of stew, you could say that it is bubbling up nicely. Two days after Nick Faldo surprised many in Europe with the selection of Ian Poulter in his team, Paul Azinger, the United States captain, named three rookies in the squad that he will be in charge of in just over two weeks’ time at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky.

Although Chad Campbell has played in the biennial match, Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan and J. B. Holmes, the captain’s other selections, have not and their inclusion alongside Anthony Kim, Ben Curtis and Boo Weekley means that the US team have six newcomers and are comfortably the least experienced from that side of the Atlantic in recent years.

When Azinger accepted the captaincy he insisted on having four selections rather than two. He also delayed the naming of that quartet in the hope that he could have men who were in form and he also tightened up the qualification process.

But Azinger’s plans do not seem to have had the desired effect. The winners of the past nine events on the PGA Tour in the US — men whom Azinger had hoped would be American and would go into the Ryder Cup at the top of their form — have been little-known players such as Chez Reavie and Parker McLachlin, or non-Americans, such as Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, Carl Pettersson and Richard Johnson.

This meant that Azinger had his hands tied. Stricker was always a probable, given that he is ranked No 8 in the world. Holmes, who is the world No 55, is a big-hitting local hero and Mahan, who is at No 37, is a successful young Turk. Campbell, the world No 53, has a dire Ryder Cup record. He has played six matches in his two appearances and won once.

Azinger did his best to sound upbeat and statesmanlike. He called Mahan, who recently described players in previous American teams as “slaves”, a “lion”, Holmes “a bomber who knows Valhalla like the back of his hand” and Campbell “a terrific ball-striker”. But he was on the back foot for much of his press conference in New York City yesterday. He agreed that his team are workmanlike, although he probably felt that he was referring to their personalities rather than their talent, and he tetchily declined to answer a question from a British inquisitor. In his edginess he resembled Faldo at Gleneagles on Sunday.

Azinger resembled Europe’s captain in another way, too. In describing himself as a “control freak” he chose the precise words used on Sunday to describe Faldo. “If somebody gave you information, would you trust it 100 per cent and make a decision based on what somebody else, not you, had seen?” Faldo said in reply.

It raises an issue that may go away if Faldo and José María Olazábal, Faldo’s vice-captain, are successful, yet will linger if they are not. Faldo does not want any more helpers. “I was surprised he has only gone with himself and Olly,” Sam Torrance, the successful Europe captain at The Belfry in 2002, said yesterday, speaking to promote the BMW Urban Cup. “He wants to gain all the information himself about the players, but he can’t do that, he won’t have the time.

“Take, for instance, sorting out the pairings for the afternoon on the Friday and Saturday. You have to get them in by 12.15pm, when two of the morning matches are still on the course. He doesn’t have the time to watch all four matches and could make a decision to drop one pairing who he sees are two down with three to play, only for them to win the last three and he’ll want them back in.

“In 2002 I had four helpers, one following each match. You need your friends there, people who you know and trust.”

It may yet be that Thomas Björn will act as another pair of eyes. The Dane is popular, well regarded and intelligent and it is not possible to have too many of these qualities in the maelstrom of Ryder Cup week.