Monty facing problem of plenty

London: Over the next fortnight we might be waving goodbye to Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson as Ryder Cup players and saying adios, for the moment, to Sergio Garcia.

We might be left wondering whether American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin has sufficient powers of persuasion to talk Tiger Woods into playing at Celtic Manor in October.

And we might be discussing the fall of Woods from the World No 1 spot for the first time in five years and heralding Lee Westwood as the man who toppled him.

There's no overstating the significance of the next two tournaments, therefore, as the worlds of stroke play and match play collide at the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio this week, followed by the season's final major, the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Get set for two of the best weeks of the golfing year.

For the moment, let's concentrate on the Ryder Cup. Has there ever been a qualifying process as fascinating as this one? Not in my recollection.

For the past week, Europe's captain, Colin Montgomerie, has been in Portugal piecing together his marriage and let's hope for his and wife Gaynor's sake that it has proven a good deal less problematic than stitching together his team.

Any idea how all these pieces are going to fit? Me neither. There was a time when Europe had to go all the way down to players ranked just inside the world's top 100 to fill out the side. Right now, believe it or not, Monty would have no choice but to go into the match without a player ranked among the world's top 20, for there are currently four ranked 19th or higher who are not in the team and he has just three wildcards.

Wildcards

The four in question are Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose and Edoardo Molinari. Fancy the task of choosing between those four?

Let's see: Casey is the world No 9, so he has to be picked; Harrington is the man for the big occasion, so he has to play as well; Rose could quite possibly win the American order of merit, so how could you leave him out? And then there's Molinari, such an accomplished winner of the Scottish Open last month and who would make such an obvious partner for his brother Francesco, who is currently in the team.

Good luck with that one, Monty. There are actually four qualifying events left for Europe's finest but it is the next two in America where all the money is on offer and big moves can be made.

Thankfully, all four are in such form that you would imagine at least one of them will do enough to force their way into the team and make the captain s life easier. But hold on a minute. What about the three players mentioned in the first paragraph? At their best you'd want all three in the team as well because they've shown themselves to be fearless in Ryder Cup's past.

At the moment, such is the strength of European golf, you couldn't make a case for picking any of them. But Stenson and Garcia showed signs of life at The Open at St Andrews and Karlsson is a tournament winner this year. All three, quite rightly, are held in the highest esteem by the captain. Can they put together sufficient evidence over the next fortnight to force his hand?

All this and we haven't mentioned the Welsh putting wizard, Rhys Davies. Or Ross McGowan. Or Alvaro Quiros. It's going to be some running until the team is named at Gleneagles on August 29, isn't it?