Sergio maintains Spanish Ryder Cup record

Sergio Garcia’s victory in the Wyndham Championship means Spain will continue their proud record of having at least one player in every European Ryder Cup side.

The tradition was started by Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido in 1979 when players from continental Europe first took part and Garcia maintained it after a welcome return to form in North Carolina where he bagged his first US Tour win since 2008.

The 32-year-old had seemed a certainty to make Jose Maria Olazabal’s 2012 team when he won back-to-back European Tour events on home Spanish soil at the end of 2011 but a failure to register a single top 10 on the US Tour since Feburary had put his place in danger.

But Garcia, who failed to qualify for the last match and worked as an assistant captain instead, has removed any dilemma Olazabal might have had about making him a wildcard pick by playing his way onto the team.

Now Ian Poulter is in need of a wildcard, just as he was in 2008, and former world number one Martin Kaymer will be in the same boat if Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts finishes first or second in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles this week.

Given that Poulter is staying in America for the start of the FedEx Cup play-offs, Colsaerts is the only one who can knock Kaymer out of the last automatic spot in Europe’s team for Medinah.

England’s David Lynn and Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello thought they might have a chance too, but the withdrawal from the last counting event of Swede Peter Hanson – he is now certain of his second cap – has reduced the number of world ranking points on offer.

That leaves USPGA runner-up Lynn and Dubai Desert Classic winner Cabrera Bello hoping that a victory in Scotland this weekend might persuade Olazabal to pick them, as was the case for Edoardo Molinari two years ago.

Taking into account his great cup record and his third place finish in the last major of the season, Poulter looks certain for one wildcard and, as things stand, uncapped Colsaerts appears favourite for the other one ahead of three-time major winner Padraig Harrington.

Colsaerts finished joint seventh – his best-ever finish in the States – after receiving a special invitation to the event and stated: “I thought the more chances I got the better it’s going to look if I kept playing well.

“When you get yourself in positions like this and make the most of it it just shows how much you want it.”

The following nine European players have now booked their places:

Rory McIlroy
Justin Rose
Graeme McDowell
Paul Lawrie
Francesco Molinari
Luke Donald
Lee Westwood
Peter Hanson
Sergio Garcia

European skipper Jose Maria Olazabal will make his two wildcard picks following the conclusion of this week’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

The following eight US players have already booked their places:

Tiger Woods
Bubba Watson
Jason Dufner
Keegan Bradley
Webb Simpson
Zach Johnson
Matt Kuchar
Phil Mickelson

US skipper Davis Love will announce his four wildcard picks on September 4th, the day after the second FedEx Cup play-off event.