Ryder Cup: Paul Azinger has completed the American Ryder Cup team by handing wild cards to Steve Stricker, Hunter Mahan, JB Holmes and Chad Campbell.

They will join Phil Mickelson, Stewart Cink, Kenny Perry, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis, Justin Leonard, Anthony Kim and Boo Weekley in trying to prevent Europe making it an unprecedented fourth successive win at Valhalla on September 19-21.

Three of Azinger's quartet - Stricker, Mahan and Holmes - are rookies like Curtis, Kim and Weekley.

For Campbell it is a third successive appearance, but he has only ever won one match and has dropped to 53rd in the world.

"I felt I was on the outside looking in but got the call from captain Azinger," said Campbell via telephone link. "I'm very excited."

Stricker was an obvious choice. At eighth in the world, Tiger Woods and Mickelson are the only Americans above him and Woods, of course, misses the match because of injury.

The 41-year-old Stricker, a former world matchplay champion, was in position to qualify until Curtis finished joint second at the USPGA three weeks ago.

It will be his first Ryder Cup cap, but he played in the Presidents' Cup last year and back in 1996, the season in which he also won the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews with Mickelson and Mark O'Meara.

Azinger spent no time deciding on Holmes either, but the other two decisions went to the wire.

"I really like Stricker and JB Holmes," he said. "Stricker is a great chipper, putter and match play player. JB is a Kentucky bomber who knows Valhalla like the back of his hand.

Holmes is known for his big-hitting, but what was also in his favour is that, like Kenny Perry, he is from Kentucky and will have home-state support. While he ranks third in driving distance on the US Tour this year, however, he ranks 199th in accuracy.

"I was mulling it over as late as last night," Azinger said of the remianing two places. "It was up for grabs."

Few Americans have impressed over the last number of weeks. Of the last nine US Tour events the only two American winners were the little-known pair Chez Reavie and Parker McLachlin. Vijay Singh won three, Pádraig Harrington the last two majors and Sweden's Richard Johnson and Carl Pettersson one each.

Mahan is the player who only a month ago talked about Ryder Cup players being used as "slaves" and hinted at possible boycotts in the future because the fun had been sucked out of it.

US Ryder Cup 2008
Phil Mickelson
Stewart Cink
Kenny Perry
Jim Furyk
Anthony Kim
Justin Leonard
Ben Curtis
Boo Weekley

Wild cards
Steve Stricker
Hunter Mahan
JB Holmes
Chad Campbell