Tragedies haunt Ryder Cup hopefuls

NICK DOUGHERTY and Martin Kaymer are two of Europe's brightest golfing talents and, just a few months ago, both were being tipped for Ryder Cup debuts.

What they also have in common now, sadly, is a family tragedy and if they fail to rediscover form by the end of the month they look set to miss out.

Dougherty's mother died following a heart attack in April, then Kaymer's mother lost her battle with cancer early last month.

They now stand 15th and 11th in the cup standings with three events left, but the first sees them contest the Scandinavian Masters at Arlandastad in Stockholm where they were joint runners-up last August.

German 23-year-old Kaymer has played three events since his mother's death and not finished in the top 50 of any of them.

Dougherty, 26, also missed the halfway cut at the US PGA last week, crashing to a second-round 82, and has not had a top 50 finish in his last seven starts.

It was his mother's wish that he did all he could to try to make next month's match.