Padraig Harrington was left with mixed feelings on the eve of the BMW Open at Munich's Nord-Eichenried club yesterday. He was given a glowing testimonial by Cup captain Seve Ballesteros who declared: "I would not mind at all if Padraig qualified for the team at Valderrama. He is a very good young player, and he did very well in Ireland last week considering the pressure he was under."
Then the Dubliner, who lies 12th in the qualifying table going into this final counting event, learned he was further away from a place in the automatic top 10 than he realised. The reason is that Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin now believes he can be fit to play in the match against the US at Valderrama next month, despite having an operation for fractured bone tissue in his left wrist three weeks ago.
He has told Ballesteros that he believes he can start hitting balls again next week, and the captain is now prepared to give him until Sunday, September 7th, to prove his fitness.
Ballesteros says he is also ready to delay the announcement of his two wild card choices until then, if Martin remains in the 10th and final automatic place. In the meantime he will stay in touch with the Madrid golfer. "I have been ringing him more times than I have been telephoning my wife," he remarked. Martin has 324,400 qualifying points, 8,938 ahead of 11th man Olazabal and 30,883 more than Harrington. To remove Martin from an automatic place in the team Olazabal has to finish in the top 20 this week, while Harrington has to finish in the top five.
Three others, Paul Broadhurst, Joakim Haeggman, and Roger Chapman, can overtake Martin if they finish first or second and eight more from Sam Torrance in 16th place to Miguel Angel Jimenez in 23rd, can do so by winning the £125,000 sterling top prize.
Ballesteros commented yesterday: "Martin had the plaster removed two days ago and says he is getting better. He may hit balls next week and he wants to play if he qualifies. If he is in the top he has every right to do so if he is fit. "But I want all my 12 players to be fully fit and I have told him he can only have one week, until September 7th, to prove he can play. That is what Jose Maria Olazabal was allowed in 1995, and if Martin qualifies I will probably postpone naming my wild cards until I know what the position is with him."
Harrington said: "I thought I needed to make up 22,000 points on Olazabal, but now it will be harder to make the team. But there is not so much pressure on me now, and I am going to try to play as well as I can and see what happens."
Contrary to popular belief he has no hard feelings about being paired with Ballesteros at the K Club, where he did not do justice to himself in finishing down the field in 50th place. "I heard what people were saying about Seve putting pressure on me," he added, "but that's nonsense. If I can't cope with playing alongside the Ryder Cup captain on a course I know well in front of my home fans, how could I hope to cope with the pressure of the Ryder Cup?
"I enjoyed it, and it was all good experience. Whatever happens this weekend I have gained so much from this campaign, and one thing is that I know I have what it takes to be one of Europe's best players."
Harrington plays with Dane Thomas Bjorn with whom he had a thrilling duel for rookie of the year last season, and Mark James. The men under Seve's spotlight this time are Broadhurst and Torrance. The Englishman has to finish first or second (£83,320) to overtake Martin, but should not be discounted despite his patchy form this year, and the presence of title favourites Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer.
In Dusseldorf six years ago Broadhurst birdied the last two holes to finish second to Mark McNulty and won a place in the 1991 Ryder Cup team at Kiawah Island at the expense of Eamonn Darcy. And he believes he can do so again. "I am a rank outsider with nothing to lose, and I am going for it," he said. "Making the Ryder Cup team has always been my number one goal for the year."
Torrance, who has to win to ensure a ninth successive appearance against the US, believes he also has strong credentials to merit personal selection. "I was joint top points scorer with Costantino Rocca at Oak Hill, and I have twice been second and was third last year in the Volvo Masters at Valderrama," he says.
"Certainly I think I merit consideration for a wild card and if it was a question of me, Broadhurst or Parnevik, I would be a good bet. But if Martin plays I would not have a chance. I would not consider myself against Olazabal or Nick Faldo."
Irish eyes will be focused on whether Harrington can join Darren Clarke on duty at Valderrama, but Paul McGinley, and Ronan Rafferty are also in the line up, as are Christy O'Connor Jnr, Eamonn Darcy, Raymond Burns, and David Higgins.
