Pavin surprises with singles selection for final day (Extra)

By Peter Auf der Heyde Oct 3, 2010, 20:13 GMT

Newport, Wales - American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin on Sunday surprised with his selection for Monday's concluding 12 singles matches.

After winning five of the six matches on Sunday and halving the other, Europe need to win just five of the 12 matches to win the Ryder Cup for the 11th time.

Pavin selected world number one Tiger Woods in eighth position and Phil Mickelson, who is ranked second, as 10th, prompting even European captain Colin Montgomerie to raise an eyebrow.

'I have tried to be as diplomatic as possible throughout this week and I will continue to do so. But to see that match eight and ten contain the top two in the world leaves me quite surprised.'

In contrast, the Scotsman seemed to have placed his strongest players upfront, hoping that they will give him the points early on that the team needs to win.

Lee Westwood, who - together with Martin Kaymer - is the top scorer at this year's competition with 2.5 points, gets proceedings underway against Steve Stricker, followed by young Irish sensation Rory McIlroy, who takes on Stewart Cink.

Montgomerie is confident that rookie McIlroy will be up to the task. 'All players are on their own. There is a very different feel playing on your own and I can speak from experience. But I am sure that Rory can cope and that is why he is so high up on the team- sheet.'

The third pairing of the morning sees Luke Donald up against Jim Furyk, while Dustin Johnson will have an opportunity in the fourth pairing to look back at what could have been at the PGA Championship, when he takes on German Martin Kaymer.

Johnson thought he had qualified for a three-way play-off with Kaymer and Bubba Watson at the last major of the year, but was then penalized a stroke for grounding his club in a sand-bank and Kaymer went on to beat Watson in a three-hole play-off.

The fifth, sixth and seventh matches see Ian Poulter take on Matt Kuchar, Ross Fisher against Jeff Overton and Miguel Angel Jimenez facing Watson respectively.

Francesco Molinari is up against Woods in the eighth match and Montgomerie is confident that the Italian will be up to the task. 'Francesco and his brother will go to the tee-box three inches taller after winning their final hole on Sunday to halve their game.

'Somebody has got to play Tiger and it is a difficult game. But then all are difficult, but anybody can beat anybody.'

Pavin defended his choice of Woods for the eighth match. 'I think that's a great spot for him. If the matches go well, to start off, I think the eighth slot is a very important slot.

'They are all going to be important slots tomorrow, but I think having Tiger there means that I have someone there who has a great chance to win his match. It could end up being an important spot possibly,' he said.

Edoardo Molinari takes on Rickie Fowler in the ninth game, while Sweden's Peter Hanson takes on Mickelson in the tenth match.

The two final matches are between Padraig Harrington against Zach Johnson and Graeme McDowell against Hunter Mahan.

Montgomerie said he deliberately played McDowell at the rear. 'He is a very confident young man. If it does come down to that match, I believe he could pull it off.

'He is a very confident and solid performer.'

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