Kiawah Island: European captain Jose Maria Olazabal faces the tricky task of selecting two players for his Ryder Cup team and if his words on Wednesday were any clue, Ireland’s Padraig Harrington may not be among them.

Three-times major winner Harrington is 19th in the European world points list and would need an outstanding result - such as a win in this week’s PGA Championship - to automatically qualify for next month’s Cup clash with the United States.

“He has to do really extraordinary well. He’s well down the list,” said Olazabal, who will announce his captain’s picks after the Johnnie Walker Championship finishes at Gleneagles on August 27.

“I’ve played with him a couple of times during this year. From tee to green, his game has been fairly good, but I think his putting has let him down this year so far,” added the Spaniard.

Irishman Harrington has struggled at many tournaments this year, although he proved he can still compete at the highest level with a tie for eighth at the Masters and joint fourth at the US Open.

The 40-year-old Dubliner has appeared in the last six Ryder Cups and been on four winning teams, including in 2010 when he was a captain’s pick by Colin Montgomerie.

“There are three weeks left. If he really does extraordinarily well, he can have a great chance of making the team still, but it’s going to be up to him,” said Olazabal.

Olazabal’s compatriot Sergio Garcia is another experienced Ryder Cup hand whose qualification is not yet secure — he holds the 10th and final automatic spot at the moment but faces threats from players such as Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium and Britain’s Ian Poulter.

UPBEAT WORDS

But the words Olazabal chose for Garcia, who has also featured in the last six Cups, were far more upbeat than those reserved for Harrington.

“You’ve seen him play a Ryder Cup,” Olazabal said of Garcia. “He’s a great team player. His spirit is always really good. And in that regard, I think he’s a great asset to the team. He has obviously the experience, the knowledge.

“He wants to be part of it. It’s true that at the moment, his game is a little bit off. Pairing-wise, he’s proved the last few Ryder Cups he can play with anybody, and he’s done well. And I think that’s very important.

“If you are looking at the players to be on your team, Sergio would certainly be one of them for sure.”

Englishman Poulter could also take encouragement from his Olazabal’s comments at Wednesday’s press conference.

“He’s really close,” the European captain said. “We all know how great of a match player he is. He did extraordinarily well the last two Ryder Cups at Valhalla and Celtic Manor.

“Obviously he’s one of the players that I am keeping an eye on, see how he does the next three weeks. He’s not all that far away. Of the guys that are at the moment not on the team, he’s one of the guys that has the best chance of making that team.”

US captain Davis Love III has four picks available to him with only eight players qualifying automatically while Olazabal’s pair of picks is down on the three that Montgomerie had available two years ago for Celtic Manor.

The Spaniard said it would be a difficult job explaining his decisions to those left out.

“You might have to make a few phone calls or you might have to approach two or three players and tell them face-to-face and say, ‘Listen, you tried hard but you’re not going to make the team’.

“I’ve always said that is going to be one of the toughest moments of the captaincy without a doubt. But that’s the way things are. I’m not going to change that,” said Olazabal.