---

NORTON - Carl Pettersson had to feel pretty good walking off the 18th green at the Deutsche Bank Championship Sunday.

The Swedish-born player who currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina had just made four straight birdies to end his round, capped by a 10-foot putt on the 18th to put him at 3-under for the day and 10-under for the tournament, good for a tie for 10th.

But then came the bad news.

After walking off the green, Pettersson was alerted that European Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo had announced his picks to fill out the team while he was on the course. Pettersson was not picked. Ian Poulter and Paul Casey, both of whom missed the cut at the DBC, were.

"I just made four birdies in a row and I was a little disappointed," Pettersson said. "I'm playing well but that's totally up to him who he chooses to play." Pettersson won the Wyndham Championship two weeks ago, his third career victory on the PGA Tour. The Swede moved to the United States for his last two years of high school and has stayed in the country since then. He plays almost exclusively on the PGA Tour instead of the European Tour.

"I love playing over here, this is the number one tour in the world," he said. "I think that sometimes gets overlooked. I think the competition over here is a lot harder than in Europe."

Pettersson believes that playing most of his golf in America may have hurt his chances of getting one of the two captain's selections.

"I felt that I was playing well and I wasn't really getting a fair crack in the media," he said. "Every time I saw someone talking about the Ryder Cup picks I never really got much of a mention ... I think it's because I grew up here in America and played most of my golf here."

Pettersson was one of a select few names that was being mentioned to fill the final spots, along with Poulter, Casey, and Irishman Darren Clarke. But he was certainly mentioned less than the other three names, despite his success on the PGA Tour this year (Pettersson is 17th on the PGA Tour money list). Sergio Garcia, who will help lead Team Europe, was one of the only players that brought up Pettersson's name in interviews about the selections yesterday.

The North Carolina State alum was disappointed he didn't get a spot, but was more shocked at a different exclusion.

"I'm more surprised Darren (Clarke) didn't get picked," Pettersson said. "He's got such a good team chemistry with (Lee) Westwood."

Neither Poulter nor Clark has ever won on the PGA Tour. Poulter finished his two days at the DBC at 2-over-par 144, tying him for 106th place as he missed the cut. Poulter was also cut from The Barclays after finishing the first two days at 3-over par.

Poulter lashed out at the media after his round in Norton on Saturday when the subject of the Ryder Cup was brought up.

"Do you know what? I'm sick and tired of all this nonsense," he said Saturday. "I'm absolutely spent. I can't waste any more energy on this. If I get the call, I'm ready to play. And trust me, I'll do my job." Paul Casey also missed the cut in Norton when he finished yesterday with a 1-under-par 141. Casey has had more success in the FedEx Cup than Poulter, finishing tied for seventh last week at The Barclays.

Pettersson figured that his chances had increased with those two struggling, but it appears that Faldo put little stock into the results in Norton.

"I didn't think I had a chance until Casey and Poulter missed the cut this week," he said. "But they both played Ryder Cups before, but I certainly thought I had a better chance with me playing decent ... I thought I had a fair chance but that's the way it goes."

Now, Pettersson can only hope to continue to play well and improves his standing in the FedEx Cup standings. He now projects to 13th after his birdie-filled final holes.

"I didn't really have (the Ryder Cup) as a goal, I figured if I played well and won tournaments it would take care of itself. I came close in 2006 and came close here," he said.

"I can concentrate on the playoffs now and the end of the season."