Eyes turn to Ryder Cup

By Phil Casey, Press Association Sport Last updated: 21st July 2010

The Open may have only finished on Sunday and the final major of the year, the USPGA Championship, is just a few weeks away, but attention is already turning to October's Ryder Cup.

In fairness, the Ryder Cup is never far from the thoughts of the media as soon as the qualifying period gets under way, with the biennial contest an obvious angle for a story whenever a European player wins a tournament.

But with just over 70 days to go until the contest starts at Celtic Manor in Wales, there is a real sense time is running out for cup hopefuls to stake their claim on a place in the team.

And that is especially true for American players seeking to claim one of eight automatic places on Corey Pavin's team, with the last counting event, the USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits, ending on August 15.

While Europe's qualifying period does not end until after the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles two weeks later, Pavin will know his eight qualifiers at Whistling Straits and then wait three more weeks before announcing his four wild cards on September 7.

So how is the US team, which will attempt to retain the trophy won convincingly at Valhalla in 2008, shaping up?

It is no surprise to see the likes of Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods in the automatic places, although Woods is only seventh given his inconsistent form since returning to action at the US Masters.

Both Furyk and Stricker have won twice on the US Tour this season, although surprisingly Furyk missed the cut in the Masters and Open Championship this year and is a collective 26 over par for the three majors so far.

Just behind Woods in the table, Matt Kuchar has been the epitome of consistency this season, making the cut in 14 of his 17 events with six top-10s and 11 top-25 finishes.

But most interestingly of all is the player fourth in the standings, namely Anthony Kim, who has been out of action since May following an operation on a thumb injury.

Kim made a big impression on his Ryder Cup debut at Valhalla, winning one and a half points from three matches with Phil Mickelson and then thrashing Sergio Garcia 5&4 in the first singles match.

Pavin is on record as saying Kim is the "type of guy" he wants on his team, but admits he will have to monitor how Kim shapes up on his return to action.

That had been tentatively pencilled in for this week's Canadian Open, but Kim is not in the field at St George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

The 25-year-old said earlier this year his plan was to make enough points early on to make the team before undergoing surgery, but Pavin added: "I think it's a good plan, but he has to come back and I'll have to assess how he's playing, and he has to assess how he's playing as well."

The last thing Pavin will want is a repeat of the situation with Miguel Angel Martin in 1997, who qualified for the European side but was excluded following a dispute over his wrist injury.

Martin refused to play 18 holes to prove his fitness at the start of September, his place eventually going to the next player in the standings, Jose Maria Olazabal.

Martin pointed the finger of blame at captain Seve Ballesteros for his exclusion, and although Europe went on to win the trophy at Valderrama, Pavin will not want anyone pointing fingers, or thumbs in this case, at him if the Americans return from Celtic Manor empty handed.

Current US Ryder Cup standings:

1 Phil Mickelson 5,768pts, 2 Steve Stricker 3,402, 3 Jim Furyk 3,280, 4 Anthony Kim 3,238, 5 Lucas Glover 2,980, 6 Dustin Johnson 2,936, 7 Tiger Woods 2,773, 8 Matt Kuchar 2,725

9 Jeff Overton 2,629, 10 Ricky Barnes 2,579, 11 Hunter Mahan 2,577, 12 Ben Crane 2,486, 13 Stewart Cink 2,394, 14 Nick Watney 2,297, 15 Rickie Fowler 2,259, 16 Bubba Watson 2,202, 17 Bo Van Pelt 2,156, 18 JB Holmes 2,129, 19 Sean O'Hair 2,122, 20 Zach Johnson 2,118

Phil Casey, Press Association Sport