RYDER CUP: AS DILEMMAS go, the one facing Nick Faldo this week as he prepares to finalise his two wild card picks for next month's Ryder Cup match in Valhalla, Kentucky, ain't half bad.
Of those outside the loop in terms of making the team automatically, Europe's captain has the pick of players bang in form. All of which is bad news, it would seem, for Colin Montgomerie.
Faldo must decide on his picks on Sunday evening next, after the conclusion of the year-long European qualifying race at the Johnnie Walker championship in Gleneagles. And the odds are that the names of Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Darren Clarke are being juggled around in Faldo's head most of all, with recent US Tour winner Carl Petterson an outside bet.
Up to this past weekend, Casey and Poulter - compatriots of Faldo - were primed to take the available slots. That is, until Darren Clarke won the Dutch Open. So, although he could not secure an automatic spot on the team even should he win in Gleneagles, Clarke is now very much back in Faldo's thoughts. Clarke has moved to 56th in the world rankings, having started the year in 229th position.
We already knew Casey's Ryder Cup qualifying race had finished, as he has opted to stay on in the US for the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston, which doesn't finish until next Monday (Labour Day in the US) and so won't qualify for Ryder Cup points.
And last night Ian Poulter decided that he, too, would take his chances of relying on a pick from Faldo. He withdrew from Gleneagles and will instead join Casey in Boston.
Poulter has informed Faldo of his choice, and said: "It has been an extremely difficult decision to take given my burning desire to represent Europe again in defending the Ryder Cup in the United States.
"But the fact that Boston this week is my only opportunity to qualify for the final two play-off events, as well as being my final opportunity to play my 15 events on the US PGA Tour, conflicts with my ambition to play Gleneagles and earn my spot in the team.
"I have called Nick Faldo and told him of my decision and hope that my performance so far this year will earn one of his two wild card picks.
"The captain's picks are a nightmare, and not a position I would have wanted, where I need one, but we do know that Nick will do the right thing and I will be playing as hard as I can this week to add to my year and hopefully earn one."
Casey has conceded that Clarke's win in the Dutch Open has "put the cat among the pigeons" in terms of influencing Faldo's selections. The Ulsterman's resurgence in form - the win was his second of the season and comes after a tied-sixth place in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational three weeks ago - certainly gives Faldo food for thought.
With the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second of the four, season-ending play-off FedEx Cup tournaments on the US Tour, finishing on Monday, all eyes will be focused on what unfolds this weekend at Gleneagles, where there is a top prize of €292,355, which could conceivably change qualifying positions towards the bottom end of the table.
Rose, Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson are the players vulnerable to being caught by those playing catch-up in the deciding tournament, with Martin Kaymer, Ross Fisher, Nick Dougherty and even Soren Kjeldsen mathematically able to make the team.
Although the Boston tournament finishes too late to apply to the world points list on the Ryder Cup table, those claimed in Gleneagles will count: and, with neither Robert Karlsson nor Miguel Angel Jimenez in the field, this route offers an opportunity for Rose to secure a place off the world list.
As things stand, Rose is, if still just about hanging on by his finger tips, assured of a place on the team (off the European list). So, as far as wild cards go, Casey, Poulter and Clarke seem to be the players vying for them.
Montgomerie, despite being championed by Pádraig Harrington, is unlikely to get a pick from Faldo, which would bring an end to his talismanic presence in the team locker-room. The Scot has played in the last eight Ryder Cups, since making his debut at Kiawah Island in 1991, and is unbeaten in eight singles matches.
But Montgomerie's form of late has been disastrous, with his runner-up finish in the French Open in early July followed by a run that has seen the Scot go 24th-MC-58th-77th-MC.
However, no Monty on the team would likely heighten the chances of Clarke getting a pick. As he proved at The K Club - where he was a captain's pick and won three points from three - Clarke is a larger-than-life presence and his form of late suggests he is worthy of getting the nod from Faldo.
With the possibility of players at the tail-end of the qualifying likely to fall out or come into the picture at Gleneagles, this particular race for places really has come down to the wire.
