Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell will travel to the KLM Open at Hilversumsche Golf Club in Holland this week aware dwindling Ryder Cup hopes have been distilled into the next fortnight. John O'Sullivan reports
Neither managed to generate momentum on or off the golf course at the Scandinavian Masters in Malmo last week - McDowell is a former winner of the event - McGinley finishing in a tie for 20th place and his compatriot ending up in a cluster in 36th place.
McDowell is 14th on the Ryder Cup European points list, McGinley a place further back.
The former is 199,238.15 points behind Sweden's Joakim Haeggman, who occupies the last automatic slot on the list. McGinley is 213,146.99 adrift.
This week's KLM Open has a relatively meagre fund of €1.2 million with a winner's cheque for €200,000. A victory would edge the Irish pair closer but wouldn't go near to copperfastening a place given how lucrative is the upcoming schedule.
Both players have applied themselves strenuously in pursuit of a Ryder Cup slot. McGinley playing his 10th tournament in an 11-week run; McDowell tees it up for a ninth time during that period.
One positive from the tournament for McGinley was that he has crept into the top 100 in the new world rankings and should therefore receive an invitation to compete in the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits next week.
McDowell's case is less compelling, though his management team at ISM is expected to press for inclusion in golf's fourth major of the season on the basis that the Ulsterman is chasing a Ryder Cup place. His current world ranking is 125.
McDowell, who celebrated his 25th birthday last Friday, would relish the opportunity to play in the US PGA Championship - he made his debut in the majors at the recent British Open - having enjoyed such a spectacular college career at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, where he broke the scoring records previously held by Tiger Woods and Luke Donald.
McGinley has the fillip of a place in the NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, a World Golf Championship event that takes place a fortnight after the US PGA Championship.
As the race for the Ryder Cup team reaches its finale there are only five counting tournaments remaining: the KLM Open, the US PGA Championship/BMW Russian Open (they're played the same week), the NEC Invitational and, finally, the BMW International Open.
McGinley and McDowell are joined in Holland this week by Peter Lawrie - who shot a course-record 64 in the final round at Malmo on Sunday to finish tied-eighth - Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane.
Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, both assured of a place at Oakland Hills in September, take a second week off from competitive fare.
One young golfer who considerably enhanced his Ryder Cup prospects was Luke Donald with his victory in the Scandinavian Masters.
It moved him up to 10th place in the world points list and 51st in the world rankings.
Having initially decided to base himself in Chicago and play on the US Tour, Donald was prevailed upon earlier in the season by European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer to commit himself to the statutory 11 tournaments to qualify as a European Tour member.
It has proved a prescient intervention for one of European golf's striking young talents.
Donald enjoyed a wonderful amateur career, playing college golf in the USA at Northwestern University, Illinois, graduating with a degree in art history. It was there that he won the NCAA individual title in 1999, breaking Woods's Golfstat Cup record for the lowest stroke average (70.45) in the process.
He was a pivotal member of the back-to-back Walker Cup successes in 1999 and 2001 when Britain & Ireland twice beat the USA; Donald won seven points from a possible eight.
He qualified for the US Tour via the qualifying school and underlined his quality by winning the weather-affected Southern Farm Bureau Classic over 36 holes in 2002.
Having initially announced the US would be his stomping ground, he changed his mind at Langer's behest.
He has now given himself the opportunity to qualify for the team by right but even if he doesn't achieve that over the next few weeks, he must be a strong contender for one of the captain's two picks.
The accepted wisdom is that Colin Montgomerie is likely to be one of Langer's choices but Donald's familiarity with American conditions might prove irresistible.
He is a straight driver of the ball, is noted for his iron play and his putting and, as he demonstrated on two occasions in the Walker Cup, is not fazed by team golf and the associated pressures.
Meanwhile, in the United States Vijay Singh recorded his fourth US Tour victory of the season with a one-shot victory over John Daly in the Buick Open: they obviously improved from their outing at the Heritage Golf Club in Laois, where they lost to Harrington and Murphy.
Singh and Daly played in the final pairing, the Fijian prevailing by a single stroke, one shot ahead of Woods and Carlos Franco.
Woods has now been the world number one for 330 weeks and if he manages to maintain his status he will equal Greg Norman's record of 331 weeks by the end of this week and possibly break that mark at the US PGA Championship.
