Nick Faldo has hailed Padraig Harrington's major double as a huge boost for Europe as they go for an unprecedented fourth successive Ryder Cup win.
"I was delighted and impressed with Padraig's performance and he's going to bring something very special to the team," said Faldo after watching Open winner Harrington and Sergio Garcia finish first and joint second in the USPGA Championship.
"Having the only current major champion at the Ryder Cup
(US Open champion Tiger Woods is missing for the Americans, of course) will add significant weight to our campaign.
"I was also pleased to see Sergio move up the qualification table (into third spot) as I think he'll bring just the right kind of passion to the tournament."
Three more events are to come before Faldo has to name his two wild cards, but even with Garcia moving into the top 10 the task is still not an easy one.
And it has been made no easier by Paul Casey's decision to stay in America rather than return to Europe as Justin Rose and Ian Poulter are both poised to do.
Casey has never won on the US Tour, but even two in a row might not be enough to put him into an automatic place.
After the USPGA the Englishman said he had three more tournaments to try to qualify, but the third of them does not count towards the Ryder Cup.
Rose, now eighth in the standings, has entered next week's KLM Open in Holland, but says on his website: "I don't know whether I have done enough yet to get into the team. I hope so, but I might not have.
"I might have to head to Europe to play the Dutch and the Scottish (the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on August 28-31).
"I have entered both but I am not sure yet. I don't know - it's a frustrating situation."
Open runner-up Poulter is 12th in the standings and was also scheduled to play the FedEx Cup, but is set to return to Europe.
With Luke Donald still to come back from a wrist injury that has kept him out of action since the US Open in June, it is Poulter, Casey and Colin Montgomerie who are at the centre of the wild card speculation.
Montgomerie has the experience, of course, and Harrington has stated firmly that he would like to see the 45-year-old Scot selected.
But after two bad weeks - 77th out of 80 in the Bridgestone World Championship and then 149th out of 155 at the PGA - Montgomerie is planning a two-week break.
That means he can no longer qualify automatically and he will almost certainly have to be in contention at Gleneagles to have a chance of a pick.
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HARRINGTON BACKS POULTER
