The flight plans of Europeans leaving the PGA Championship says a lot about the various ways they can make the Ryder Cup as qualifying enters its final three weeks.
Martin Kaymer headed to Sweden for the SAS Masters on the European tour. Paul Casey went to Greensboro, N.C., for the final PGA Tour event before the FedEx Cup playoffs. Justin Rose went to his U.S. home in Orlando, Fla., with plans to head to Europe.
Europe made great strides in shoring up its team at Oakland Hills, with Sergio Garcia effectively sewing up a spot with his runner-up finish. But there are three tournaments left, and some players are trying to decide where to go.
The top five come from a world ranking points list, the next five from a money list and European captain Nick Faldo gets two picks.
Justin Rose is No. 7 on the list of world points, about 18 points behind Robert Karlsson at No. 5. Rose, however, is third in money standings and might have a better chance of nailing down a spot by staying in Europe.
He also is No. 76 in the FedEx Cup standings, but he entered the KLM Open in The Netherlands and the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the final qualifying event for Europe.
"My plan was to play the FedEx Cup, but I don't know if I have quite enough points to be safe," Rose said. "So I might have to go back and earn some more."
If he plays both European events, he most likely would be eliminated from the playoffs before the third week in St. Louis.
Paul Casey is No. 91 in the FedEx Cup standings and 16th in the Ryder Cup world points table. His best chance is to gather world ranking points, and there are more available in the United States this month.
"I'm FedExCupping it," Casey said after a tie for 15th at Oakland Hills. "I still have an opportunity to qualify, but that opportunity is now off the world points list rather than the euros. And I'm a long way off of that list. I basically have to win, simple as that."
Casey also needs to play two more events to fulfill PGA Tour membership.
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