General / Bill Elliott / 13 August 2008 /

Three weeks is a long time in golf and Ryder Cup hopefuls will be giving their all from here on, says Bill Elliott.

Twenty years ago I asked Seve Ballesteros what made him the great player he was at that time. What do you think he answered? His short game, his imagination, his endless hours of practice? His good looks?

None of the above. Instead Seve looked at me very seriously - and only he can look as serious as this, believe me - and said the great strength he possessed was the eternal determination to return as good a score as was possible. "This is not always a very good score maybe but the point is that it always is the very best I could do that day. I never give up. Never. This is what makes me different to many."

And, of course, the great man is absolutely spot on. Few, if any, players ever will admit that they gave in during a round when the bio-rhythms were not spot on and when luck seemed a distant stranger. But the fact is that a great number of pro players do throttle back during the hard days. The great ones never do. Tiger Woods is the best example of this from the current players and it now appears that Padraig Harrington has joined him.

The Irishman will never have the sensational all-round talent of Tiger but he has enough, especially around the greens, and he never, ever concedes an inch. This why he won the Open and why he followed up with a brilliant USPGA victory last week.

But the big point here is not that Seve was, and that Tiger and Padraig are, genuinely great players, it is that no-one within touching distance of a place in the Ryder Cup team will be giving up over the next three weeks.

This group consists of Paul Casey, Ian Poulter, Soren Hansen, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose and, just maybe, Colin Montgomerie although the Scot's decision to stick to a long scheduled family holiday with his new bride probably rules him out of any real chance of being picked by Nick Faldo. Mind you, it just might be that Monty makes it to Valhalla, as an assistant captain to Faldo. Watch this space.

With Rose almost certainly returning to Europe to secure his automatic place in the side, Poulter making up his mind on this and Casey definitely staying in the States, anything is possible. In a perfect world these three would qualify for a place and so free up Faldo's hand when it comes to naming his two picks at the end of this month.

Actually, I believe he only has one pick left for Casey surely is an assured selection. The muscular Englishman's mercurial brand of golf is ideal for a Ryder Cup and his recent form - seventh in The Open, eighth at Bridgestone and fifteenth in the USPGA - must merit a selection. If Rose can hold on to his place then Poulter, unless automatically qualified, will be the second pick as things stand.

The important phrase here is 'as things stand' because three weeks in golf is a very long time and some other fringe player may emerge. Including, of course, Montgomerie who definitely plays at Gleneagles where Faldo will be prowling the fairways at Gleneagles as he ponders his options. If Monty could win this final qualifying event then the big man may tip the balance his way.

Whatever the outcome here - and there are more ifs, buts and maybes than may be found in the averaged whodunit - the one thing any punter may be sure of is that the Ryder Cup hopefuls will be trying their best, giving it their all from here on in. What none of us knows is what the pressure of trying to make the side will do to them. Fun, isn't it?

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