RORY McILROY and Ian Poulter have defended Darren Clarke’s captaincy after his team suffered their biggest Ryder Cup mauling for 35 years with their 17-11 defeat at Hazeltine.

Clarke has been savaged for keeping faith with struggling veterans Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer.

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He also got his pairings wrong, especially in the foursomes where Europe fielded eight different combinations.

But McIlroy commented: “I don’t think Darren could have done anything else. He has been a fantastic captain.

“Personally for me to play under him, I wanted to win so badly for him and even more so the way, if you could have seen him in the team room all week and the things he was saying. How great of an atmosphere he created. It was fantastic."

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Vice-captain Poulter also said the criticism of Clarke was unfair.

He added: “The overall scoreline was 17-11 but I think it was a little closer than that.

“Darren has tried his b*****ks off. “Lee is going to come under fire and Darren is going to be criticised for picking Lee but that’s unfair. You cannot expect to play seven or eight rookies – it’s just not possible.

“Unfortunately Lee missed some putts this week and he might not have had his best golf. Because of that it’s going to be tough for Darren.”