Harrington remains outside of qualifying place

Padraig Harrington remains just outside an automatic Ryder Cup qualifying place despite finishing joint ninth at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron.

The 22nd place of Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez was just enough for him to hang on to the ninth spot on the points table with three weeks to go.

There were no changes to the leading nine in what proved a disappointing week for the Europeans. Swede Peter Hanson did best in eighth.

Most worrying, of course, was the withdrawal of Lee Westwood – clear leader in the standings – after two rounds because of his ruptured calf muscle.

He misses this week’s US PGA Championship, the final major of the season, and is battling to recover fitness in time for the match at Celtic Manor on October 1-3.

Four players – Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter – look safely in Colin Montgomerie’s side, but for the rest it could go to the wire.

As things stand Harrington, Justin Rose and Paul Casey look favourites for the three wild cards.