Golf: Sweden's Jesper Parnevik and Britain's Luke Donald could stay in contention for this year's Ryder Cup if they exploit a loophole in European Tour membership rules, says Europe's captain Bernhard Langer.
PGA Tour regulars Parnevik and Donald effectively ruled themselves out of selection earlier this month, saying they could not compete in the requisite 11 tournaments in a year and would forgo their European Tour membership.
However, Langer told a news conference at Wentworth yesterday that merely competing in a qualifier for a major championship would count as one of the 11 minimum events.
"Qualifying for a major actually counts as playing it, even if you miss qualifying," said the veteran of 11 Ryder Cups. "If I enter qualifying for this year's British Open, it counts, even if I miss qualifying.
"I think some players might not know that, and it applies to all the majors." Langer, 46, added he had learned about the loophole only after speaking to European Tour executive director Ken Schofield earlier in the day.
"It's been a rule for years and years, but I can't blame anybody for not knowing it," he said. "I've been a pro for 29 years, and thank goodness I haven't had to qualify (for a major) for the last 28 years."
Asked if he thought knowledge of the loophole might have changed the tour membership decision by Parnevik and Donald, he replied: "I really don't know. It might not."
Parnevik and Donald are ranked outside the world's top 50, and therefore not guaranteed spots in the four majors and World Golf Championship events.
Meanwhile, Curtis Strange and Lanny Wadkins, two of the last four American Ryder Cup captains, have both been asked for their advice ahead of this year's match. Not by Hal Sutton, however, but by Langer.
"I talked to them just to see how their experience was and if they learned anything from it or if they did anything they wouldn't do now," said the European captain.
"Curtis told me to enjoy the whole process because it's easy to get wrapped up. There's a lot of stress and a lot of things going on and just make sure you enjoy it because it's a once in a lifetime position and commitment that you're taking.
"With all the work and the stress it's easy not to enjoy it, so I'm planning to. I thought that was good advice."
Strange was captain of the 2002 side beaten at The Belfry, while Wadkins was in charge when America lost at Oak Hill in 1995.
Langer is also trying to seek out Franz Beckenbauer "just to get his thoughts on captaining a team and being a leader and trying to combine 12 individuals to pull on the same string. "
• Colin Montgomerie cannot afford to finish lower than fifth in the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth this week if he is win a spot in next month's United States Open - and even that might not be good enough.
The top 50 players in the world rankings come Sunday evening will earn an exemption for the US Open and failure to achieve a top five finish would leave the 40-year-old Scot either needing a special invitation or having to go through the qualifying competition to play at Shinnecock Hills.
