Ryder Cup criticism unfair, says sanguine Harrington

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Criticism of the European team for their Ryder Cup thrashing by the United States was unfair, says three-times major winner Padraig Harrington, but it will be used to drive them to victory next time.

Harrington, a member of the team which lost 16 points to 11 1/2 in Louisville, Kentucky last month, said the U.S. had been deserved winners and no one should be blamed for the defeat.

"It was a disappointment, for sure, but not as disappointing as (the last defeat) in 1999," the Irishman said in a conference call on Friday.

"The U.S. team deserved the win this time. Why we lost, we could talk about it for a long time... next time we'll have home advantage and the fact that we lost makes us more motivated and as a team, very strong."

Europe's captain Nick Faldo came under fire at Valhalla Golf Club for overlooking Cup stalwarts Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie as his two wildcard picks, opting instead for Paul Casey and Ian Poulter.

But Harrington defended Faldo and said critics should focus on the performance of the team, not just the result.

NO SURPRISE

"When people analyze things after the event, they look at the result and decide that something wrong happened, we have seen that in the Ryder Cup over the years," he said.

"A captain has done a bad job and won and he gets a lot of praise.

"The captain can do everything right and still lose. Every losing U.S. captain has had a lot of criticism, it's just about results and results don't always reflect the performance."

The next Ryder Cup will be staged in 2010 in Britain at Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, Wales.

Harrington captured his second successive Open Championship title in July to clinch his third major in two years, but insists his sudden success surge has come as no surprise.

"Three majors looks like a great improvement and a big spike to the outside world, but it's not like that," said Harrington, whose most recent major triumph was the US PGA Championship in August.

"I've been prepared for this for a long time psychologically. That's why when I've talked of my targets, I've always said 'majors' as a plural."

(Editing by Ossian Shine)