McGinley leads Irish hunt for Ryder Cup spots
Paul McGinley remains the only Irish player within the qualifying positions for the Ryder Cup at the K Club in September.
However, Padraig Harrington is steadily moving up the ranks as he finds his form on the US Tour.
His tied for 11th finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at the weekend will give the Dubliner a welcome boost of confidence. He now lies 13th on The Ryder Cup World Points List and The Ryder Cup European Points List, well poised to make a move in the coming weeks.
Graeme McDowell finished just one shot further back in New Orleans at the weekend, signaling a possible return to the excellent form he showed a couple of seasons ago. However, he remains well off the pace in the Ryder Cup standings.
Darren Clarke is well placed at 9th on the World Points list. However, it remains to be seen if he will be a regular on tour this year with his wife Heather battling cancer.
There was no change in the US Ryder Cup points table with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson way out in front. The position at the bottom of the top 10 is less certain however with a number of players in contention for the coveted Ryder Cup spots.
Latest leading places in the European Ryder Cup tables after the Spanish Open and Zurich Classic (capitals indicate players currently in qualifying positions)
(Five players qualify off world ranking table, next five off European points table. Captain Ian Woosnam then adds two wild cards)
World Points:
1 HENRIK STENSON 182.82
2 JOSE MARIA OLAZABAL 173.26
3 SERGIO GARCIA 145.31
4 COLIN MONTGOMERIE 135.34
5 LUKE DONALD 120.51
6 David Howell 119.36
7 Paul Broadhurst 89.53
8 Paul McGinley 88.54
9 Darren Clarke 85.27
10 Paul Casey 83.61
European Points (1pt for every Euro):
1 Colin Montgomerie 1,672,810
2 Henrik Stenson 1,562,396
3 DAVID HOWELL 1,414,488
4 Sergio Garcia 1,254,249
5 PAUL McGINLEY 1,228,273
6 Jose Maria Olazabal 1,155,653
7 PAUL BROADHURST 875,844
8 NICK DOUGHERTY 846,099
9 PAUL CASEY 816,410
10 Kenneth Ferrie 747,378
US Ryder Cup points
Top ten qualify for automatic place
1 Tiger Woods 2,930.000 pts
2 Phil Mickelson 2,034.375
3 David Toms 1,068.917
4 Chad Campbell 1,009.602
5 Jim Furyk 831.000
6 Davis Love 631.875
7 Fred Couples 627.727
8 Vaughan Taylor 530.833
9 Zach Johnson 496.477
10 Lucas Glover 511.376
11 Arron Oberholser 477.500
12 Scott Verplank 475.667
13 Jerry Kelly 473.750
14 Chris DiMarco 470.000
15 Tom Lehman 432.917
