Golf:Darren Clarke has conceded defeat in his bid to qualify for the Ryder Cup after withdrawing from this week's Czech Open. Clarke will now concentrate on his role as one of Colin Montgomerie's vice-captains.
The Tyrone man, who finished in a tie for 48th at the US PGA last night, had harboured ambitions of qualifying automatically for the team and making a sixth playing appearance at the Ryder Cup.
But the 42-year-old would have needed to win this week and again at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles simply to have a chance of climbing into the top nine from his 21st position.
Welshman Rhys Davies has also withdrawn, because of fatigue, and cannot now make the Ryder Cup on points.
A captain’s pick from Colin Montgomerie is the only way Wales will be represented on home soil at Celtic Manor in October, but that looks highly unlikely with Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose and Luke Donald all needing a wild card as well.
Martin Kaymer’s US PGA victory knocked Donald out of fourth place on the world points list which provides the first four places in Colin Montgomerie’s side.
Harrington, meanwhile, was narrowly overtaken by Paul Casey on the European points list from which the other five spots are decided. However, Casey said after he finished joint 12th that he, like Harrington and Rose, has decided not to play the race-ending Johnnie Walker Championship in two weeks.
And with Donald wanting to stay in America as well it means Montgomerie might now have to leave one of his star players out.
Becoming a major champion has also made Kaymer the leading money-winner on the European Tour this season. The German takes over at the top from US Open championGraeme McDowell.
Kaymer is also up from 13th to a career-high fifth in the world after beating American Bubba Watson in a three-hole play-off at Whistling Straits.
Ryder Cup standings
(Capitals denote players in qualifying positions)
World Points:1 LEE WESTWOOD 422.0, 2 RORY McILROY316.9, 3 MARTIN KAYMER 285.4, 4 GRAEME McDOWELL249.3, 5 Luke Donald 231.1, 6 Edoardo Molinari 218.4, 7 Ian Poulter 211.2, 8 Padraig Harrington204.9, 9 Justin Rose 195.7, 10 Francesco Molinari 172.5
European Points:1 Lee Westwood 3,446,137, 2 Martin Kaymer 2,638,282, 3 Rory McIlroy2,368,205, 4 Graeme McDowell2,307,041, 5 IAN POULTER 2,238,874, 6 ROSS FISHER 1,708,614, 7 FRANCESCO MOLINARI 1,612,747, 8 MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ 1,499,775, 9 PAUL CASEY 1,487,776, 10 Padraig Harrington1,486,529
Race to Dubai
1 Martin Kaymer (Ger) €254,400, 2 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) €2,055,917, 3 Lee Westwood (Eng) €1,822,738, 4 Ernie Els (Rsa) €1,771,118, 5 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) €1,694,738, 6 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) €1,676,896, 7 Ian Poulter (Eng) €1,478,118, 8 Paul Casey (Eng) €1,438,864, 9 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) €1,230,656, 10 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) €1,185,670, 11 Rory McIlroy(NIrl) €1,184,019, 12 Luke Donald (Eng) €1,143,424, 13 Rhys Davies (Wal) €1,121,173, 14 Alvaro Quiros (Spa) €1,094,182, 15 Ross Fisher (Eng) €1,076,423, 16 Francesco Molinari (Ita) €992,477, 17 Padraig Harrington(Irl) €983,155, 18 Simon Khan (Eng) €925,843, 19 Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) €842,727, 20 Retief Goosen (Rsa) €841,664
World golf rankings
1 Tiger Woods 9.56pts, 2 Phil Mickelson 9.07, 3 Lee Westwood 8.87, 4 Steve Stricker 7.37, 5 Martin Kaymer 6.70, 6 Jim Furyk 6.69, 7 Rory McIlroy5.98, 8 Ernie Els 5.64, 9 Paul Casey 5.59, 10 Luke Donald 5.32, 11 Ian Poulter 5.03, 12 Hunter Mahan 4.84, 13 Graeme McDowell4.81, 14 Anthony Kim 4.60, 15 Zach Johnson 4.44, 16 Retief Goosen 4.33, 17 Robert Allenby 4.18, 18 Padraig Harrington4.16, 19 Louis Oosthuizen 4.11, 20 Sean O'Hair 3.98
Other leading Europeans:21 Edoardo Molinari, 23 Justin Rose, 28 Ross Fisher, 29 Robert Karlsson, 30 Henrik Stenson, 38 Francesco Molinari, 39 Miguel Angel Jimenez, 43 Alvaro Quiros, 49 Peter Hanson, 51 Sergio Garcia, 52 Rhys Davies, 63 Oliver Wilson, 70 Simon Dyson, 74 Fredrik Andersson Hed, 75 Soren Kjeldsen, 77 Brian Davis, 79 Soren Hansen, 82 Anders Hansen, 83 Stephen Gallacher, 84 Shane Lowry, 89 David Horsey, 90 Chris Wood, 91 Danny Willett, 93 Fredrik Jacobson, 95 Ross McGowan, 96 Simon Khan, 100 Darren Clarke