COLIN MONTGOMERIE and Ian Poulter would both miss out on the Ryder Cup if their fellow pros at Gleneagles had their choice.
The survey of players at the Johnnie Walker Championship, asking them whom they would pick as Ryder Cup wild cards, has put Darren Clarke and Paul Casey as the clear favourites.
But Montgomerie and Poulter are not even next on the list. Uncapped G
erman Martin Kaymer is.
Of 64 votes cast, the 32 players surveyed were asked for two selections as will happen with Nick Faldo on Sunday evening, Clarke received 29, Casey 19, Kaymer 12, Montgomerie three and Poulter just one.
The poll was conducted after Poulter's decision not to try to qualify for the team, but to stay in America and pin his hopes on a wild card.
Despite speculation to the contrary, the Open runner-up insisted vehemently yesterday that no promises have been made to him by Faldo.
His near total lack of support in the poll could mean one of two things.
Either that his European Tour colleagues think he should pay the price of playing in Boston rather than going for the fifth-place finish in Scotland which would could have earned him a top-ten spot. Or that weighing up form, experience and talent they simply do not rate him as highly as the other leading candidates.
Clarke's victory in Holland last Sunday, two weeks after he was sixth in the Bridgestone world championship in Ohio, has thrust him to the fore. He was inspired as a wild card two years ago.
Casey, a member of the last two teams and a past World Match Play champion, has run into some form too.
Montgomerie's record against the Americans is counter-balanced by his dismal recent form, but the support for Kaymer will surprise some.
The 23-year-old is 11th in the table after two wins this year and was on course for a place in the side until his mother lost her fight with cancer at the start of last month.
Gleneagles is due to stage the Ryder Cup in 2014 and the European Tour have six years to prove to Lee Westwood that they have chosen a course fit to stage the Ryder Cup.
But for the next three days it is mostly a case of keeping fingers crossed that the race for places in next month's Ryder Cup side will not be decided by greens from Hell.
Westwood's savage comments after his opening one-under-par 72 which left him four behind leader Gregory Havret were followed by a statement from both the Tour and venue officials.
Safely into Nick Faldo's side himself, but feeling sorry for those striving to earn a spot, the former European No.1 said the greens should be dug up.
"You can't bring the Ryder Cup onto greens like this," he commented.
"Hopefully they won't use the same designer who had two goes at doing the seventh, I think my kids could come up with a better design than that in one afternoon."
The statement said that greenkeeping staff had "worked diligently" to prepare the course.
"It has been a difficult summer and, specifically, the last three weeks have been extremely challenging with rainfall recorded at 205mm compared to the average total monthly figure for August of 86mm. A strong agronomy plan has been formulated for the PGA Centenary Course and is still work in progress."
Colin Montgomerie is the tournament chairman and he also said the situation would be addressed.
Montgomerie, of course, has his main focus at the moment on trying for a Ryder Cup wild card, and although he finished the opening day down in joint 37th on one over par he feels he is "by no means" out of it.
Going into today's second round Justin Rose, Soren Hansen and Oliver Wilson were still in position to hold off the challenge of Martin Kaymer, Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty for the last three qualifying spots on the points table.
Wilson and Kaymer fared worst with three-over-par 76s.
Mansfield golfer Wilson could still earn a debut even if he misses the cut, but the 23-year-old German would be left requiring a wild card if he crashed out tonight by missing the cut.
Fisher resumed joint 13th, but needs a top-three finish on Sunday. Dougherty was 22nd, but has to be first or second.
The full article contains 746 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
