All of which means that the Ryder Cup is the last remaining opportunity to show the rest of the world that they haven't completely forgotten their butt-kicking skills. Tiger Woods may still be in the infirmary, and they may be unfancied at [2.44] on Betfair, but this is why the Contrarian thinks you should back them:

Winning majors is a disadvantage
Irishman Padraig Harrington has won the final two majors of the year - the British Open and the USPGA Championship. This means that over the course of 2008, Europe has won more majors than the USA. However, this has been an unlucky omen in the past. In five of the last six Ryder Cup years, American golfers have won more majors than Europeans but on each of those occasions Europe won the Ryder Cup. 1999 was the last Ryder Cup year where the Americans didn't win more majors than the Europeans. And on that occasion they were victorious.

History dictates that Europe can't win
Since Europe took over from the UK and Ireland in 1979, no country has won the Ryder Cup four times in a row. USA won three times in a row between 1979 and 1983 while Europe retained three times in a row between 1985 and 1989. Europe arrive this year on the back of three straight successes.

Home advantage
The United States have been victorious in 15 of the 18 Ryder Cups that have been held in America. It is also significant that they have never lost consecutive Ryder Cups in which they have been hosts, with Europe's three previous successes coming eight and nine years apart. So after being defeated in Michigan four years ago, the United States bounce back next month in Kentucky.

An English captain was a bad choice
Europe's three recent victories all came under different captains: Scotland's Sam Torrance in 2002; German Bernhard Langer in 2004 and Welshman Ian Woosnam in 2006. This year England's Nick Faldo is the captain. The last time an Englishman took charge - Mark James in 1999 - was the last time Europe lost the Ryder Cup. English captains have a two out of seven win rate in the Ryder Cup since it became a contest between the USA and the whole of Europe while Scotland's Bernard Gallagher is the only of Europe's five non-English captains to have tasted defeat.

The absence of Donald
English golfer Luke Donald was a member of Europe's 2004 and 2006 Ryder Cup winning teams but is set to miss out this year with a wrist injury. Donald has a great record in the tournament with five victories, one half and one loss and won four out of four with Sergio Garcia as his foursomes partner. The USA may feel hard done by about missing world number one Woods, but he has a poor record in the tournament with ten wins, two halves and thirteen defeats.

Jack Nicklaus says so
If that isn't convincing enough then how about listening to 18 time major winner Jack Nicklaus, who believes that home advantage and the Kentucky crowd swing the balance in the underdog's favour. He said: "I think we're on home soil, but I think the Europeans are pretty strong right now, stronger than I thought they were going to be. I still think the U.S. is going to win at Valhalla." The course hosted the 2000 PGA Championship and two American players - Tiger Woods and Bob May - finished first and second.

Points patterns
Europe won both the 2004 and 2006 Ryder Cups with a score of 18.5 compared to the United States' 9.5. However, the last time Europe won consecutive tournaments by the same score - in 1995 and 1997 when they won by 14.5 to the USA's 13.5 - they wound up losing two years later by the exact same score.

The Course

Gleneagles, which will host the Ryder Cup in 2014, is a fine setting for a tournament that will no doubt be a tough ask to win. Unusually, it is a Par 73 containing five par 5s. Big hitters have an advantage as they are all very reachable and given the right weather conditions the course can yield pretty low scores. However, forecasts suggest that the weather might not be quite as nice as players would like and if that is correct then the Gleneagles course will show its teeth and you will need someone who plays difficult conditions well.

The Favourite

We have a clear market leader this week in the superb Lee Westwood. Despite a pretty strong line-up Westwood is a sure fire favourite at current odds of [11.5]. He is definitely a class apart on form but we cannot get away from the fact that Lee is yet to enter the Winners circle this year. He has been excellent in many big events and I am sure he is not too concerned about his failure to win one. But for some it does cast a doubt over whether a player should be that short without a recent victory. However, I believe he is deserving of his place as market leader and will certainly be the man to beat this week.

The Next Best Bets in the Field

Last week both Darren Clarke and Paul Casey gave Nick Faldo a selection headache with excellent performances in their respective events. You get the feeling that this is by no means over and I expect Colin Montgomerie to stake his claim for a Ryder Cup spot this week. He knows he needs a big effort to impress Faldo and he has recorded top ten finishes in his previous two visits to Gleneagles. At current odds of [46.0] he is definitely worth a small punt.

Continuing with the theme my other selection this week comes in the form of Belfry hero Paul McGinley. I am not his biggest fan but he was hitting the ball as sweet as possible last week and if he can carry that over to this week then he will contend and is worth a saver at [28.0].

The Massive Outsider

The European Tour always seems to throw up plenty of decent outside bets and in recent years there have been plenty of big shocks. This week is no different and the first name to jump out at me is David Howell. The likeable guy from Swindon has shown promising signs in recent weeks and a good final round last week should put him in a positive frame of mind for this tournament. He showed that he is still a class act with his seventh place finish in The Open. He is a must bet this week and at current odds of [100.0] he represents great value.

Interesting Info

Paul Casey is the only repeat winner of this event, but you could say that is hardly surprising as we have only had nine runnings of this tournament. Colin Montgomerie is the Chairman of the event and although he has a lot on his plate with his playing pressures he will also be expected to perform many other duties as Chairman this week. Whatever happens on the course you can be sure that all attention will turn to Nick Faldo and that much awaited announcement of his wild card picks.

I'm setting myself up for a fall here but I really fancy Fisher this week and have backed him accordingly at [36.0]. He played poorly here last year, missing the cut, and he didn't fair too well last week but both performances can be excused because of his debut win at last year's KLM Open. The pressure to defend last week must have had a bearing on his display but he did shoot a final round 66 in finishing 20th, not a bad defence. And last years missed cut in this event came just a week after that maiden victory in Holland, so can also be readily excused.

His only other appearance here saw him finish in a tie for 28th in 2006 but I really do think with his length, he has the game to master Gleneagles, and in particular the five par fives.

Just in case, for some bizarre reason, Fisher doesn't oblige I've backed a few others. Raphael Jacquelin also finished very well last week and has a decent bank of Gleneagles form to draw upon, as does mercurial Italian Francesco Molinari.

A few other generously priced picks make up the portfolio, including last year's runner up and Open nearly man, Simon Wakefield.

Selections:

Ross Fisher @ [36.0]
Raphael Jacquelin @ [55.0]
Francesco Molinari @ [65.0]
Paul Broadhurst @ [190.0]
Simon Wakefield @ [190.0]
Hennie Otto @ [200.0]
Steve Webster @ [240.0]
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano @ [250.0]
Chapchai Nirat @ [400.0]

Over in the States it's the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second FedExCup Playoff event and I see absolutely no reason to desert Vijay Singh, who did me a big favour when edging out Garcia in last week's Barclays Classic.

Singh's career seems to be enjoying yet another Indian summer. A journeyman pro for years, working his way up through the minor tours to become a multiple major winner, much of his success has been since he turned 40.

He won this event back in 2004, one of nine titles won that year! In addition to that win he was 4th here in 2003 and he was mauled by the Tiger in 2006, when Master Woods responded to Singh's sensational third round 61 with a scintillating 63 to overhaul a three shot final day deficit. I took [17.0] about the Fijian soon after the market opened but he's still value to keep his late season run going.

Ben Crane's wheedled his way back in to my portfolio this week. I can't let him go un-backed at [330.0].

I looked at Phil Mickelson, I always do, and I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to see him put up a stout defence of his title this week. Yet again he missed countless short putts last week but was only beaten by four shots in the end. I think he's very close to blowing a field away and I'll be keeping a very close eye on him again this week.

Selections:

Vijay Singh @ [17.0]
Ben Crane @ [330.0]

The Deutsche Bank Championship is played out between Friday and Monday as Monday is Labor Day in the States, so I'll post an update on Sunday morning this week instead of Saturday.

By now if you don't realise that Nick Faldo will name his two captain's picks for Europe at the end of the Johnnie Walker at Gleneagles this Sunday then where have you been? Beijing perhaps?

A lot may yet happen both here and in the United States where Paul Casey and Ian Poulter have rather obstinately remained to play in the Fedex Cup rather than try to secure their places over here. This may turn out to be the smart decision on their part but there remains some doubt about its wisdom, particularly in the case of Poulter whose form since his Open heroics at Birkdale has been iffy.

It is now five months since Faldo poured me a cup of coffee in Augusta and stressed that his choices would be based on current form rather than rankings and he has said nothing since to suggest he has change his mind about this strategy.

This means that Darren Clarke must now be, if not a shoo-in, then a very, very serious consideration. And rightly so. While fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington admits he is a serial overachiever, Clarke equally honestly claims to be a resolute underachiever. Each is spot on.

While no-one may now doubt the relentless ambition and work-ethic of Harrington, no-one may doubt either that Clarke always has been the most naturally gifted. Nobody, either, can under-estimate the effect of his wife's death two years ago and the seriousness with which he then took on the role of single parent to their two young sons.

A year ago as he struggled to regain any form and impetus in his job I asked him what he considered himself to be, what was his own job description. He hesitated for a few seconds and then said: "If I was filling in one of those passport forms and it was the bit that asked me what my occupation was then I'd put down 'Father'.

That he has pulled this off - the bond between dad and lads only too obvious when he won in Holland on Sunday, the first time they had been present to see him actually win - is hugely to his credit. Sure, we all would have done the same but trying and succeeding are two different things. Whatever else the big man has underachieved at in his career being a caring dad is not one of them.

While this sentiment is correct it will not, and nor should it, play any part when Faldo sits down with himself in his suite at Gleneagles to debate who to pick. Clarke would not expect that and neither would he want it.

What he does know, and what I know, is that his inclusion would ensure the selection of a man eager to grasp all the good moments left to him in his life. Two years ago at The K Club, Clarke played some of the best golf of his life through a curtain of tears. Many of us watched it through our own watery eyes.

Rest assured that his is one name the USA's Paul Azinger would prefer not to hear when Faldo clears his throat to speak around tea-time on Sunday. A lot may yet happen before then but it is difficult for this observer to see any real alternative to Clarke for Faldo.

A ready made partner for his close pal Lee Westwood and a sturdily reassuring presence in any team room, Clarke is made for this Ryder Cup action on enemy ground. Faldo may see it differently but whatever else the European skipper is, he is not a stupid man and the smart thing to do this time is the obvious one.

Darren Clarke and Paul Casey have to be the picks. Or do they? We'll see...

This year it's probably the biggest, toughest decision ever. And it hasn't been made any easier for Nick Faldo by both Ian Poulter and Paul Casey deciding not to play at Gleneagles this week. Both are now hoping for the call from Faldo that says they are in the team. One or the other could well be disappointed.

Poulter seems to be the biggest gambler, choosing to protect his place on the US PGA tour rather than go to Scotland in search of the prize money which would have guaranteed him a spot at Valhalla. He's going to Boston instead to play in the Deutsche Bank Championship as it is his last chance to play the required 15 events on the American tour. His odds to be in the European team have shot out from [1.1] to [1.7] on the news, which is actually good news if you want to back him to be there.

Missing Gleneagles is a brave call, but he's not taken it without talking to Faldo first. What was said? Only they know, but I've got a feeling that Poulter was given some reassurance about his place on the team before going public with the decision not to go to Scotland.

Faldo is clearly trying to keep some room open for the flamboyant English star who came so close to winning The Open. He's already backed himself into a corner over Casey when he was working for TV on The Barclays Open at the weekend. This morning's Times carries a great series of pictures of Casey holing a 22 foot putt on the 18th green. As he lined it up, Faldo in the commentary box quipped: 'If he makes this, he's in the Ryder Cup team.' When the ball duly dropped neatly into the middle of the cup, he frantically back tracked saying: 'OK, I can't quite make my mind up yet.'

Casey has been told about the incident and returned with his own joke. "We've got that on tape and my lawyers will have a field day." But it's serious stuff and he might well need to speak to his learned friends. According to the Daily Mail's Derek Lawrenson, who is close enough to Faldo to reveal his plans to partner Padraig Harrington with a rookie, the two picks will go to Darren Clarke and Poulter. He writes today: "In Poulter you have got someone who stood over a 15ft putt on the final hole of the Open, thinking he had a chance of winning if he holed it, and did so. Isn't that exactly what you're looking for in a Ryder Cup player? It is, and it's why backing Poulter to be on the tee at Valhalla isn't as much of a gamble as Faldo - and Poulter himself - are making it out to be.

Five things you might not know about Ryder Cup wild cards

1. While Europe gave the captain a choice in his team from the start of the new format competition, America only introduced a "captain's pick" in 1989

2. Nick Faldo was himself a wild card in 1995, and his singles win over America's captain's pick Curtis Strange was the pivotal result in Europe's win

3. Bernhard Langer at the Belfry in 1989 was the worst performing wildcard ever, losing all three of his matches

4. Andrew Coltart was a surprise choice for Mark James at Brookline in 1999 - and was then left out of all the pairings and drew Tiger Woods in the singles to lose 3 & 2

5. Overall America's choices have fared slightly better - winning 50.9% of the available points while Europe's have picked up 47.8%

Sunday's opening play-off event was thrilling entertainment, and Ridgewood a superb addition to the schedule that's hopefully here to stay. It's hard to recall a course which produced such a mix of very low and very high scores, resulting in a persistently fluctuating leaderboard.

Furthermore, the tweaks made to the scoring system for this second running of the Fedex Cup are an improvement in terms of spicing up the battle to qualify for each event. An extra 2,000 points are available this year just for making the cut - a tremendous incentive for players way down the list in search of a swift transformation in fortunes. That's great news for ranks outsiders like Nicholas Thompson and Matt Goggin, who after one good week find themselves in the top-30 and bad for top stars like Padraig Harrington and Adam Scott, who missed the cut at Ridgewood and are now far from certain to make the final cut.

However, I'm wondering whether the 'anyone can win' mentality has unduly influenced the market, because in my view there is one outstanding bet available - backing the leader and favourite Vijay Singh.

Here's why. It is very true that 'anyone can win' the Fedex Cup. Because of the narrow gap between first and last after the reset, and the 11,000 points available for the winners of the first three play-off events, it was almost certain that the winner at Ridgewood would become overall leader. And of the 30 qualifiers for the Tour Championship finale, anyone starting within 10,500 points of the leader will still have a chance.

But equally, anyone who wins two events is basically certain to win the Fedex Cup. Already over 5,000 points ahead of second-placed Sergio Garcia and 7,500 of the next best, Vijay will have three decent chances to finish the contest early, irrespective of other players' performances. Should he win any of the remaining play-off events his lead will be virtually insurmountable. And if he finishes second in any of them, worth at least 5,400 points, he'd set a very strong target.

If Vijay just makes the cut in the next two events, he'll be guaranteed a minimum final total of 115,670 points but his previous record at the venues concerned suggest he'll get plenty more. At this week's venue, TPC Boston, Singh has won and made the top-four on three of his four attempts. He's also won at the Tour Championship venue, East Lake, and never finished below ninth in seven attempts. In my view, 120,000 looks a realistic score even assuming he doesn't win any of them.

To reach that benchmark, second-placed Garcia would need over 15,000 points and anyone else would require at least 19,000. Realistically, the only way any other player is going to have a chance of surpassing that total is by winning one of the events. And if either of the next two are won by an outsider, or just somebody outside the top-25, they'll still be trailing Singh by some distance as long as the Fijian makes those cuts.

So what price should Singh be? He will start amongst the favourites for all three events to come. He's [15.5] for this week's Deutsche Bank Championship, and couldn't start much bigger in the BMW Championship which will involve 50 fewer players. And he should start even shorter, perhaps single figures, for the final 30-runner Tour Championship. I reckon the combined odds just to win another event is no more than [4.5].

And of course that second win may not be required. There's every chance that the remaining events will produce three different champions, in which case there would be four potential overall winners and Singh would be vying for favouritism amongst any permutation. In my view, all this makes the correct price no more than [2.5]. Yet he traded around [6.6] yesterday, before the price settled around [4.4], which still represents an outstanding trade. At the very least, this is great way of having an interest that will last throughout the remainder of this series.

Clarke started the day with a three shot lead but three of my picks were hot on his heels and I was confident that if Dazzler messed up I'd collect. And boy did he mess up on the 2nd hole. He bungled and scuffed his way to a bogey and looked all out of sorts and very nervous. While this was going on Stenson birdied the first two holes and they were level.

I'd backed Stenson again at a generous [3.8] as they played the 2nd hole and after they'd finished it I was able to lay back at [2.0], reducing my liability and increasing my potential win quite considerably. Stenson then made a very lengthy birdie on the 3rd hole and for the one and only time hit the front, trading at a low of [1.69].

After his tumultuous start Clarke settled superbly while Stenson went the other way and by the time they reached the 10th hole the event was effectively over.

John Bickerton and Marcus Warren were a disappointment, both unable to mount any sort of challenge once they'd bogeyed the 3rd hole. To say I was disappointed with Stenson would be an understatement. In the scheme of things this wasn't the strongest of events and yet again he showed his inability to close out the deal. His body language is deceptive, he looks like he's invincible and a cool and collected customer. One commentator yesterday described him as `a street fighter who never knows when he's beaten`.

The facts suggest otherwise and he's one to be wary off. I know that everyone struggles to win to a degree but they're not all as short in the betting as Stenson usually is.

A loss in Europe, but it hadn't been a complete disaster.

So it was over to the States, to what turned out to be a classic.

With Mickelson out of the reckoning I was left to rely on my sole in running pick, Hunter Mahan, and he started well enough on Saturday. As did overnight leader Stricker, at one point they were three and four shots clear but then all hell broke lose. Stricker lost a ball and Mahan just lost the plot and the event completely changed complexion in the space of about forty minutes.

As the leaders dispensed with strokes like confetti, attention turned to those in the clubhouse who had enjoyed favourable morning conditions and I backed V J Singh at [9.2], -8 and climbing the leaderboard fast.

It proved a good move, by the time they teed off on Sunday he was trading under [6.0].

If ever there's a player who gets punted harder than his results warrant it's Sergio Garcia who has just the one win to his name in the last three years. I layed him at [2.0] when he wasn't even leading and he still had six holes to play, and then again at [1.58] a hole later when he held the slenderest of leads.

Under normal circumstances I would have been a bit bolder and hung on to all of the lay but given the run I'd been on caution was the watchword and when he bogeyed the 16th I backed him back at [3.2], still making him a loser but not as damaging a loser as he had been.

There were some badly burnt fingers as Garcia played the last hole in regulation, bizarrely he was layed as low as [1.03] and to good money at [1.10]. A commentator somewhere out there had confused someone!

All the time I was concentrating on getting Sergio in the book my post third round pick Singh was plodding along well and to cut a long story short it came down to a three man play off between Singh, Garcia and Kevin Sutherland.

Sutherland, who had crept into the fray almost unnoticed, played the play-off hole poorly and was all set to make bogey when the other two were surveying their birdie putts.

First to putt was Sergio from 27 feet and when it toppled in I was cursing my luck and he was trading at around [1.15] but just as the last of my faith seeped away Singh made his birdie from 26 feet. It seems I'm not cursed after all.

Singh and Garcia went back to the 17th hole where Garcia hit a bad drive, followed by a bad 2nd shot. Then he got a very friendly drop which saw him go from being stymied behind a tree to having a clear path to the green and all thanks to a moving mole hole! But it wasn't enough and when Singh made a comfortable birdie my mini bad run was over. The rot was stopped.
I'd got away with one there; Garcia had done nothing wrong and was unlucky to get beat this time.

Yet again it was success for the over forties. Singh at 45 is an incredible competitor who I thought, until he won at Bridgestone the other week, was just about finished. Clarke, who you couldn't help be pleased for, has just turned forty.

Two strong fields will fight out the Johnnie Walker and Deutsche Championships next week; I'll preview both events on Wednesday.

And one last thought. Anyone missing Tiger? No nor me.

Despite the victory, the Northern Irishman is not guaranteed a place in Nick Faldo's team for the biennial clash with the US.

Runner-up Henrik Stenson is in the team but he couldn't stay with Clarke, despite taking the early lead during the fourth round - at which point he was matched at a low of [1.68].

The Ryder Cup takes place at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisiana, starting on September 19th. Europe, victorious in last three tournaments , are the [1.93] favourites to lift the trophy.

Thankfully I didn't get too involved early this week, as none of my picks at the KLM Open in Holland are close to excelling.

I've added three in-running bets so far, backing a couple of old faithfuls in John Bickerton at [80.0] on Thursday and Marc Warren at [380.0] as he made his move yesterday, and I also had a decent punt on Henrik Stenson yesterday at [4.0] after he'd birdied the 4th hole, his 13th.

Bickerton finished his round with two sixes in his last three holes, dropping three shots. While Stenson didn't exactly kick on after I'd backed him but is still only one off the lead and trading at around [4.6].

I'd turned my nose up at Stenson prior to the off but now in the mix on a rather weak looking leaderboard I think he's a fair price.

Of the three co-leaders Darren Clarke is the strongest. He's by no means a solid closer nowadays but he'll be trying his hardest to catch the attentions of Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo this week. While Alexander Noren and Robert Rock have only ever struggled from such lofty heights as this and I really do want to be against them.

With his pedigree and in the form he's in right now Stenson really should take all the beating from here and hopefully he will win, but he doesn't convert as often as he should. I don't want to be on anyone else at this stage though.

At the Barclays my sole bet, Phil Mickelson, is putting as poorly as I've ever seen him putt. In a very cruel irony his short game has completely deserted him now that he seems to be driving a bit better. He missed plenty of five/six footers again yesterday and now looks out of the hunt.

Just the one in-running selection so far and a rather disastrous one at that. Hunter Mahan had shot an incredible first round of -9, and traded at only [4.3] with three rounds still to play but he was overtaken by Steve Stricker before he even hit a ball yesterday as the veteran, playing in the morning, shot 64 to reach -10.

Playing the back nine first, Mahan interspersed bogeys and birdies in equal number throughout his first ten holes yesterday and seemed to have gotten himself back on an even keel when I backed him at [5.6].

At that time he was stood on the 5th fairway, the 2nd easiest hole on the course, some 80 odd yards from the pin, level par for the day and was just one shot behind Stricker.

The way I read it, a birdie would be the favourite outcome from where he was and he'd be level with Stricker, clear of the field. Happy days.

I read it wrong. He somehow missed the green and made bogey, was all over the shop after that and made another bogey at his final hole.

After all that though he's still in 2nd place, three behind Stricker and I've been insane enough to top up this morning at [12.0] in the hope that he can banish the memory of yesterdays 73.

So going into the last two rounds I'm pinning my hopes almost entirely on Stenson to show his class and take control. I'm no more than vaguely hopeful of a positive outcome with young Hunter but stranger things have happened.

As always, I'll review both events on Monday.

The player with the best record over the two years here is Austria's Markus Brier who has finished tied 7th and tied 8th. He looks a decent enough proposition at [46.0].

I've also backed a couple of outsiders but have turned my nose up at those at the head of the market.

Henrik Stenson comes here in fine fettle but I can't have him at the price given he hasn't managed a win yet this year.

Justin Rose is always too short for me considering how difficult he finds it to convert any chances that do arise, while last week's selection Martin Kaymer is the same price as last week in a stronger event on a course he's unproven on. Not for me.

Defending Champion Ross Fisher looks a fair price and may not be far away but the pressure of defending may just be too much.

I'm quite happy with the few outsiders I've picked to accompany Brier and to keep most of my powder dry until the event starts to take shape.

Selections:

Markus Brier @ [46.0]
Paul Broadhurst @ [140.0]
Steve Webster @ [200.0]
Simon Wakefield @ [230.0]
Carlos Franco @ [200.0]

In the States, the first FedEx Cup play-off event is The Barclays at the Ridgewood Country Club, New Jersey, which hosts the tournament for the first time.

Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural event way back in 1967 when it was known as the Westchester Classic and this year, much to my dismay, the event switches from the Westchester Country Club for the first time in its history. Fantastic, just when you've got a great bank of course form and you know the venue like a trusted old friend the powers that be decide to move somewhere else!

So what do we know about Ridgewood? It's a lengthy par 71 designed by Tillinghast in 1929 and remodelled last year. It's actually a composite of three courses, seven holes from Ridgewood's East Course, six from its West Course and five from the Central Course. Look out for the signature hole, the par four fifth, nick-named the 'five and dime' as it should be an exciting par four at only 291 yards.

I've gone for just one selection from the outset, Phil Mickelson @ [11.0], who appears good value to me for several reasons.

Sponsored by Barclays, he'll be very keen to play well here. Course designer Tillinghast was also responsible for Beth Page, Baltusrol, Winged Foot and Firestone, all tracks that lefty has excelled upon.

He's been in fine form in his last two outings and he'll be in amongst the rowdy New York fans who love him dearly. He'll do for me as my starter for ten.

Selection:

Phil Mickelson @ [11.0]

As usual I'll post an update on both events on Saturday morning.

Anyway, apart from my success (a seven iron at the 155 yard seventh hole on the Montgomery course here and thanks for asking) all the talk in Ireland at present is about the Ryder Cup. Well, the Ryder Cup and the fact that some boxer has just clinched the Republic's first medal at the Beijing Olympics. Oh, and the other fact that former Ryder Cup hero Des Smyth's son has just won several million Euros on the lottery.

There are now just two counting events for the wannabe European players to either move into the top ten for automatic selection, or barricade their positions. To use a technical expression it is now officially 'squeaky bum time'. This is why Justin Rose is in Holland this week. The 2008 Euro No.1 is trying to shore up his top ten position as he aims to make his first Ryder team.

There is, of course, a rather wonderful irony in this, for it was the KLM Open that saw Rose make his pro debut in 1998. Still a rather gauche teenager tiptoeing his way through the Acne Years, Justin had turned pro immediately after finishing fourth in that year's Open. He arrived in Holland to a fanfare of trumpets and a posse of television cameras, won the pro-am and then missed what turned out to be 21 consecutive halfway cuts. As pro debuts go this one went about as wrong as it possibly could.

Yet the experience turned out to be one of the more signifcant factors in Rose's emergence as a world class golfer over the last couple of years. It taught him that (a) nothing should be taken for granted and (b) just when you think things are as bad as they possibly could be they often tend to turn a lot worse. When his father, the extremely nice Ken Rose, died from cancer a few years later Rose struggled as he grieved the loss of not just his dad but his coach, his confidante and his advisor.

These are the elements that have created the player we now see. Mature beyond his years - he is now 28 - and tougher than his pleasant 'Englishboy' looks might suggest, Rose is determined to retrieve a disappointing season by making Nick Faldo's team. He is, of course, not the only one. Nick Dougherty, two years younger, is also in Holland and looking to place some real pressure on the men above him in the Cup rankings.

Dougherty, too, is in the process of toughening up. His mother died unexpectedly this year, shortly after watching him make his Masters debut, and the likeable young man has struggled since. Until last week, that is, when he finished runner-up in Sweden to move into fourteenth spot on the team list and just 152,000 Euros adrift of the suddenly vulnerable looking Soren Hansen.

Dougherty is a product of the Nick Faldo Series and a player who has the skipper's private mobile number. The two of them speak regularly apparently, Faldo still an admirer of the player he first met as a 14 years old and whose potential the English maestro noted immediately.

This does not mean Dougherty will receive any favours from Faldo this time round, but it does suggest that if he can give his mentor just cause to pick him at the end of this month then the European leader is likely to do just that. Meanwhile, Faldo will be quietly urging on Rose. The captain is anxious to see as many younger players in this team as is possible.

There are several reasons for this but the most salient one is the rather sad fact that there is quite a lot of baggage remaining between Faldo and the older European players who can remember only too clearly the single-minded, rather cold and obsessive man who dominated so much of European golf when they were trying to make their way. Interesting, don't you think?