The Great Dane looked a bit like the little boy lost, bouncing a golf ball off the concrete ground outside the recorder's hut and catching it in his palm just as it discovered Newton's law of gravity. It was a repetitive gesture, an act designed to deflect him from the fact that he'd just missed the halfway cut in the Smurfit European Open at The K Club.

He shook his head, as if the ball's pounding sound mirrored a similar inward frustration. Thomas Bjorn, winner of the "rookie of the year" award in 1996, has discovered a down side to life on the professional tour. A badly twisted left ankle hasn't helped matters.

"I'll probably have to wear strapping for the next four weeks," said Bjorn, involved in a simple, but costly, accident when jogging in the aftermath of the British Open. It couldn't have come at a worse time, his quest to become the first Danish player to play in the Ryder Cup reaching a climax.

As things stand, Bjorn is still on course to make the team; but the pressure is mounting, and a missed cut at the European Open, his first tournament this side of the Atlantic since leaving Royal Troon early, hasn't helped and, certainly wasn't part of his agenda. His eighth placed standing prior to this tournament looks increasingly precarious.

"I didn't take my chances this week," said Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of one under par 143, one shot too many to stay around for the weekend. "I played terrible for the last seven holes in the first round and then had two early bogeys today.

"I made too many stupid mistakes. I played really quite solid tee to green, but couldn't get anything into the hole."

The mention of missed putts acts as a spark. Bjorn played his first tournament in over three weeks when contesting the US PGA Championship at Winged Foot last week. "They were perfect greens, and it was quite a contrast to come from there and find greens like this." The criticism is left hanging in the air.

"I will definitely play in the BMW in Munich next week," he said. Frustrated or not, Bjorn's dream, at least, lives on - but Sam Torrance, a man who has played in the last eight Ryder Cup matches, requires a miracle if he is to make the team for Valderrama next month. He struggled to a 75 yesterday for 153, some 20 shots behind his compatriot Colin Montgomerie.