Donald boosts Ryder chances

Luke Donald’s second-place finish at the Honda Classic in Florida has lifted him from 12th to sixth on the European Ryder Cup world points list.

Only the leading five on that list qualify automatically in August, however. The next five come from a separate European money league and Donald is down in 50th spot on that.

Ernie Els was the player to deny the Englishman a first victory in almost two years, a closing 67 giving him a one-stroke win on six under par.

Latest leading places in the European Ryder Cup tables after the Johnnie Walker Classic and Honda Classic (top five on world list on August 31 qualify, plus next five on European list. Captain Nick Faldo then adds two wild cards):

(Capitals indicate players currently in qualifying positions)

World List

1 LEE WESTWOOD 138.80, 2 HENRIK STENSON 130.87, 3 JUSTIN ROSE 126.96, 4 DANIEL CHOPRA 105.98, 5 MARTIN KAYMER 99.11, 6 Luke Donald 90.07, 7 Ian Poulter 87.16, 8 Padraig Harrington 84.13, 9 Soren Hansen 76.15, 10 Nick Dougherty 71.57, 11 Miguel Angel Jimenez 63.60, 12 Robert Karlsson 63.05

European List

1 Lee Westwood 1,290,238, 2 Justin Rose 1,160,608, 3 Henrik Stenson 1,064,991, 4 NICK DOUGHERTY 816,313, 5 Martin Kaymer 751,443, 6 STEVE WEBSTER 715,868, 7 ROBERT KARLSSON 708,722, 8 SOREN HANSEN 704,438, 9 SOREN KJELDSEN 639,424, 10 Miguel Angel Jimenez 613,316, 11 Phillip Archer 561,526, 12 Padraig Harrington 542,561