Golf:Peter Hanson, the Swede who has given Colin Montgomerie what Europe's captain calls a "more or less impossible" task, questioned how much some stars want to be part of the Ryder Cup.
Hanson spoke out shortly after arriving at Gleneagles for the final counting event.
"If you really want to make the team - and, of course, if you are that close - then you should be here and playing," he said.
The 32-year-old moved up from 15th to eighth by capturing the Czech Open title in a play-off on Sunday and as a result pushed Paul Casey out of the top nine who automatically earn selection this weekend.
Casey and Pádraig Harrington, with top-five finishes, and Luke Donald, with a win, could all have guaranteed themselves another cap by switching from the first of the FedEx Cup play-offs to the Johnnie Walker Championship.
But not one of the trio has, and with Justin Rose and Italian World Cup winner Edoardo Molinari needing one of the three wild cards as well, Montgomerie knows he will have to face the Americans without two players who are in the world's top 22.
"This isn't difficult - it's more or less impossible," Montgomerie said on Sky Sports News. "It's a bit like Fabio Capello having to leave out Theo Walcott, I suppose. He could only take 23, I can only take 12.
"I wish I could take 20 - I do, I really do - because 20 deserve their spots this year. They've played great.
"Unfortunately, I can't please everybody on Sunday night. They understand my dilemma and their own and it is up to them to try to prove to me - this last final chance to make it pay."
Molinari is in Scotland, but Rose is with Harrington et al at The Barclays tournament in New Jersey. Montgomerie will make his decision before the winner there is known.
With so many big names now relying on a call-up, Hanson believes he has no chance of a wild card if he falls out of the top nine. Miguel Angel Jimenez's late decision to enter Gleneagles was bad news for Hanson because he is ninth in the standings and could go past him by finishing in the top 14.
But even if that happens Hanson would still make his debut unless Ross McGowan comes second or Simon Dyson wins. Interestingly, Hanson plays with Dyson in the first two rounds - and with Alvaro Quiros, who could deny Jimenez with a win.
McGowan, meanwhile, plays with Jimenez and Edoardo Molinari, whose brother Francesco is almost home and dry at seventh on the points table.
While Montgomerie says he understands the reasons why Casey, Harrington and Donald have stayed in the States, it must still come as a massive disappointment that they have not answered the call he made last year and again in June.
Before the last Johnnie Walker Championship, Montgomerie stated: "It will be an amazing event here next year. You'll find number five through number 25 (in the race for places) automatically playing here.
"I won't even have to ask them."
Before the Wales Open at Celtic Manor two months ago, another event where the entry list was not as stellar as he had hoped, Montgomerie said of this week: "I want to see them showing support for European golf and the European Tour and I will be very, very surprised if they are not there.
"That would make a whole lot of sense to a whole lot of people. I am convinced that I will have around eight candidates for three spots.
"You can count on those eight playing at Gleneagles. They will be there."
It would have been 10 for three as it turned out. Instead it is six for three.