ON the day when he might, just might, achieve his Ryder Cup dream Justin Rose was battling for the lead in the second round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles. And Colin Montgomerie was bursting through the field as well in a last-ditch attempt to earn a ninth cup cap through a wild card from captain Nick Faldo.
If three of the five players chasing him miss the halfway cut Rose will be in Faldo's side no matter what he does. But a first win of the year is the way the 28-year-old wants to clinch his first appearance against the Americans and four birdies in h
is first eight holes left him only one behind overnight pacesetter Gregory Havret.
Rose did then run up a bogey six on the long 18th, his ninth, after he could move his ball only a few feet in the thick rough, but another birdie two holes later took him back to four under par.
By that point late starter Havret had been caught first by England's Robert Rock and then by Welshman Bradley Dredge. Montgomerie resumed in a tie for 37th place but, with six holes of his day's work to go, he was up into a tie for fifth on three under.
After a birdie on the 13th he pitched to three feet for another at the par five 16th and then chipped to six feet for a third two holes later. Then he had to wait only until the 399-yard third to make further progress up the leaderboard.
Denmark's Soren Hansen, one spot below Rose at ninth on the points table, grimaced and felt his right shoulder on hitting out of the rough at the 12th. But it did not seem to be a concern as he remained two under for the tournament after 12.
Hansen did bogey the 17th and first, but each time hit straight back with a birdie.
Ross Fisher, who lies 13th and needs a top-three finish on Sunday to have a chance of qualifying for next month's match, was on the same mark.
For that, though, he had a huge stroke of luck at the 16th. Going for the green in two he struck the ball so poorly that it came up short of the water.
Another on two-under par was Darren Clarke, who in the week after he won in Holland was becoming an even stronger favourite for one of Faldo's two wild cards.
He performed well two years ago enjoying two wins with Lee Westwood.
Meanwhile, 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 Clarke and Paul Casey as the clear favourites. But Montgomerie and Poulter are not even next on the list. Uncapped German 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.
The full article contains 777 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
