American captain Tom Lehman has finally admitted he made up his mind some time ago not to play in next month's Ryder Cup in Ireland - barring some "crazy, unforeseen circumstance".
Well, it nearly happened in Colorado last night when the 47-year-old former Open champion made it into a play-off at The International before losing it to Hawaiian Dean Wilson.
Winning his first title since 2000 would have seen Lehman jump from 29th to seventh in the race for places in his own team, with only this week's US PGA championship to come before the top 10 earn automatic selection.
Wilson's 10-foot birdie putt at the second extra hole, however, means Lehman moves up only to 19th and he now needs a top-seven finish at Medinah to be forced into making the decision.
But unless he wins next Sunday he seems to have made up his mind.
"I feel like I have momentum, but I'm the captain of the Ryder Cup team and I decided a while back that unless there was some crazy, unforeseen circumstance I would not play," he said.
"My putting is just a little bit too erratic. I don't putt poorly usually, I don't three-putt a lot, but I just don't make enough putts and in the Ryder Cup it's all about the short game.
"Putting and chipping is what it comes down to, guys that can knock the ball in the hole."
Deciding who is the best in that area appears to be the decisive factor when it comes to Lehman choosing his two wild cards next Monday, but there is so much that can change in the top 10 yet.
Only five players are certain of their spots - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Chad Campbell and David Toms.
The next five - Chris DiMarco and uncapped quartet Vaughn Taylor, JJ Henry, Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich - could all be bumped off, but with a top-10 finish required to gain any points in the American system DiMarco and Taylor look pretty safe.
Amazingly, with 675 points on offer to the winner of the PGA anybody down to Robert Gamez in 104th place in the table could yet make it. Providing, of course, they are playing in the final major of the season and many are not.
Lehman says of his hopes for Medinah: "I'm playing very well, driving it very well. I certainly feel like I have as good a chance as anybody to have a good week."
But this was his eighth runner-up finish since his last victory at the 2000 Phoenix Open.
He played the last six holes in three under at Castle Rock to tie with Wilson, but the 36-year-old triumphed and moves up from 68th to 22nd in the cup standings. He needs a top-five finish this week to have a chance of being on Lehman's side for the K Club.
Stewart Cink's fifth place finish lifted him from 20th to 12th and even if he cannot climb into the top 10 he is one of the favourites for a wild card.
As for the European table, that was unchanged after the weekend. Sergio Garcia had an opportunity to go all the way from sixth to first, but fell from seventh to 29th in Colorado with a closing three-over-par 75.
