McGinley and Harrington still in Ryder hunt

Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley continue to hold ninth and 10th places respectively in the Ryder Cup standings as the battle for places hots up.

McGinley earned himself some breathing space with his 22nd place finish in the Dutch Open on Sunday.

However, his withdrawal from this week’s USA PGA Championship at Medinah Country club this week, because of the death of close friend Darren Clarke’s wife Heather, could allow those just behind him to gain significant ground.

Paul Broadhurst remains McGinley’s closest rival, but Johan Edfors, John Bickerton, Kenneth Ferrie, Anthony Wall, Simon Khan and Miguel-Angel Jimenez are all within touching distance ahead of the year’s final Major.

Padraig Harrington will compete at the weekend, and with almost 200,000 points between himself and Paul Broadhurst, a solid performance at the weekend should cement his place in the team to take on the USA at the K Club.

EUROPEAN STANDINGS

(Names in capital letters currently qualify for the team)

Ryder Cup World Points List

1 DAVID HOWELL 208.65

2 COLIN MONTGOMERIE 207.88

3 JOSE MARIA OLAZÁBAL 202.09

4 HENRIK STENSON 201.76

5 LUKE DONALD 192.25

6 Sergio Garcia 190.30

7 Paul Casey 165.33

8 Padraig Harrington 154.46

9 Carl Pettersson 154.12

10 Robert Karlsson 151.46

European Ryder Cup Points List

1 Colin Montgomerie 2,434,316.11

2 David Howell 2,274,635.98

3 ROBERT KARLSSON 1,870,581.77

4 Henrik Stenson 1,782,888.71

5 PAUL CASEY 1,721,833.85

6 SERGIO GARCIA 1,634,091.27

7 PADRAIG HARRINGTON 1,514,027.44

8 PAUL MCGINLEY 1,473,112.24

9 José Maria Olazabal 1,381,698.05

10 Paul Broadhurst 1,336,905.57