Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley have been winning Ryder and World Cup partners in the past, but it will be a very different situation in Germany this week as both are paired together for the first two rounds of the BMW International Open, the final counting event before the European team is finalised.

The Dubliners pair have been drawn together, alongside Retief Goosen, and at ninth and 10th in a Ryder Cup race which ends at the close of play on Sunday one could be responsible for pushing the other out of the team.

Next month's match, of course, is the first to be staged on Irish soil and it will be a crushing blow not just for the player, but the whole nation if one misses out.

If Harrington misses the halfway cut McGinley can go past his great friend on the table by finishing in the top six. Harrington would be out of the top 10 if either Paul Broadhurst or Johan Edfors takes the title.

But if McGinley misses the cut Harrington could save him by denying John Bickerton the win he would need to climb into the side or Broadhurst and Edfors the second place they require.

European captain Ian Woosnam might yet come to the rescue if the unthinkable happens for McGinley or Harrington. He has two wild cards to hand out on Sunday
evening, but Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and twice US Tour winner
Carl Pettersson are already candidates for them.

Woosnam is playing this week and could therefore influence the outcome himself. He plays the first two rounds with two players already in the team, Luke Donald and defending champion David Howell.