Faldo Down on Clarke and Montgomerie's Ryder Chances

Nick Faldo will spend Open week with the Ryder Cup rather than the Claret Jug on his mind, searching for clues as to which of Europe's rising stars has what it takes to perform under the pressures unique to the game's premier team event.

The next six weeks will decide who makes the team and Faldo is at Birkdale to watch the contenders for the 10 automatic places jostle for position. "This is a great opportunity to chat to a couple of the guys who are guarantees and look at those bubbling under," he said. "There's going to be a lot of jostling around there and I thought it would be good to be here."

Faldo will not make his captain's picks until August 31 but the team for Valhalla, Louisville, on September 19-21 is starting to take shape and the omens for two of the stalwarts of Europe's recent domination do not look good. Faldo is facing the prospect of being the first European captain since 1989 to lead a team featuring neither Darren Clarke nor Colin Montgomerie.

With neither man currently in the top 10 - Clarke lies 33rd on the European points list and Montgomerie 13th - they both require a prolific burst of form in the next month to secure a seat on the plane to Kentucky. Speaking at a Taylor Made event on the eve of the Open, Faldo conceded it would be tough for either man to make the side.

Asked about Clarke he said: "That's a tough one because you need to show some consistency, because [the Ryder Cup] is a pressure cooker. Form is important, you want people there who every time they go on a golf course are playing well. We are two years on from the last Ryder Cup, in golfing terms two years is miles.

"Monty is in the same boat. He's been an historic Ryder Cup player but he's the same as everybody else. You would expect a player of his ability to be able to turn it on and make something happen and get himself into the team."

Faldo will not disregard either man's claims lightly. Clarke has made five consecutive teams since 1997 and was the star of an emotional win at the K Club two years ago when he was one of Ian Woosnam's wild cards only weeks after the death of his wife, Heather. His partnership with Lee Westwood, a certainty to qualify automatically, has also been a feature of recent European domination.

Montgomerie, meanwhile, is one of Europe's outstanding Ryder Cup players. Since making his debut in 1991 he has won 20 and halved seven of his 36 matches, and his tally of 23.5 points is second only to Faldo's in European history.

Faldo's deliberations are complicated by the fact that experienced Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and the injured Luke Donald also lie outside the top 10. Faldo would love at least one of Harrington, Casey and Poulter to play himself into the side this week and add some experience to a side that currently features four rookies, Martin Kaymer, Søren Hansen, Graham McDowell and Oliver Wilson. Montgomerie's chances would also be boosted by his most obvious rivals for the captain's picks making the team automatically.

Faldo said he would happily go into the tournament with the team he has now and says inexperience could be an advantage to his debutants.

"The young guys have some advantages. They play with everything to gain and nothing to lose, and a lot of the Americans won't know anything about some of our guys. The less they know the better."

The team make-up

Europe's team consists of the top five European players from the world rankings on August 31, plus the five highest-ranked players from the European Tour not already selected. In addition the team captain, Nick Faldo, has two wild-card selections

World points list1 Lee Westwood 2 Miguel Angel Jiménez 3 Sergio García 4 Robert Karlsson5 Justin Rose

European points list1 Graeme McDowell2 Søren Hansen 3 Oliver Wilson 4 Henrik Stenson 5 Martin Kaymer

Bubbling under Ross Fisher (10th on European list), Nick Dougherty (11th), Sørjen Kjeldsen (12), Colin Montgomerie (13)