Darren Clarke has been handed a boost in his bid to secure a place in Colin Montgomerie’s European Ryder Cup side (Europe 4/7, USA 7/4, Tie 9/1 – Ryder Cup) later this year as he has been invited to the USPGA Championship for the second year running.

The 41-year-old Northern Irishman is down in 21st position on the points table and is aware that a positive outcome at this week’s 3 Irish Open in Killarney (Clarke 35/1 Tournament Outright) could see him move into the crucial top-nine places.

However, Clarke has now been handed another opportunity for Ryder Cup points with an invite to feature at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin for the USPGA Championship.

Clarke is already one of Montgomerie’s vice-captains for the battle against the United States at Celtic Manor in the first weekend of October, but he desperately wants to be playing.

“Yes I will play if I qualify,” said Clarke.

“I think Monty will want me to if I do. I think Thomas and Paul will too. There’s no question about that. If I do play well in the events I have left I possibly could give him a bigger headache. We shall see.

“We spoke at length about it and Monty said that he wants me there one way or the other.

“Right now as it stands I’m outside the team and I’m delighted to be part of his backroom staff.”

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Lee Westwood is looking forward to working under his seventh different Ryder Cup captain as he dreams of being handed the honour himself one day.

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Anthony Kim says his main target for this year is to play in the Ryder Cup (Europe 4/7, Tie 9/1, USA 7/4 – Ante Post Betting) as the American closes in on a comeback from a thumb injury.

The 25-year-old has been out of action since May following an impressive start to the season, when he won the Houston Open and claimed a third-place finish at the Masters.

The world number 13 was forced to undergo surgery to repair thumb ligaments and although this week’s Canadian Open (Casey & O’Hair 16/1f – Canadian Open Outright) has come too soon, Kim could be back on the PGA Tour soon.

Kim admits it has been a “tougher than expected” comeback and that doctors have told him not to rush back to action.

The US ace looks like he will have most of August and September to try and prove his fitness to Ryder Cup skipper Corey Pavin ahead of October’s clash at Celtic Manor.

Kim admitted: “I definitely want to make that Ryder Cup team. It’s a very special event to me and hopefully I can get back and get some more points so I won’t need to have any favours called in from Corey.”

The three-time PGA tournament winner could be fit enough to play in next month’s USPGA Championship – with the year’s final major taking place at Whistling Straits from August 12-15.

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Edoardo Molinari admits he has plenty of work to do before securing a place on Europe’s Ryder Cup team for Celtic Manor, despite another fine performance at the Scandinavian Masters (Europe 4/7, USA 7/4 to win).

Molinari is now into the world’s top 20 for the first time following his third-place finish over the weekend, when he ended up just two shots behind winner Richard Johnson.

The former US Amateur winner is now 17th in the world rankings but, like fellow European hopefuls Paul Casey, Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington, he still has to make it into one of the nine automatic qualifying places for October’s showdown against America in Wales.

Molinari’s younger brother Francesco is currently seventh in the standings and he is determined to push further up the rankings himself in what’s left of the tour before the Ryder Cup.

“I’m still outside the team, so I need to play very well in the last two or three events,” he said.

Molinari has opted to miss this week’s Irish Open in Killarney but will play the World Golf Championship event in Akron and then the USPGA Championship in Wisconsin as he looks to push himself into contention for a Ryder Cup spot.

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It has been an interesting six weeks in the life of American golfer Dustin Johnson, to say the least.

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Carl Pettersson (14/1 in Betfred’s in-play betting) will start the final round of the Canadian Open just four shots off the lead after a stunning 60 on Saturday to move into contention for the title.

The Swede carded the lowest-ever score at the event, which has been running since 1904, keeping him in touch with leader Dean Wilson.

Pettersson’s third round included two eagles and seven birdies, with the 32-year-old seeing his 30-foot birdie putt skirt past the hole at the 18th.

Hawaiian Wilson, who was given an exemption by the sponsors to play the PGA Tour event, carded a 65 on Saturday to take him to -15 for the tournament.

Pettersson (8/11 to win his two-ball v Wilson) is joined on 11-under-par by South Africa?s Tim Clark and US veteran Bob Estes, with the three-man group the closest challengers to the leader.

Former Masters winner Trevor Immelman is tied for fifth on ten-under, alongside US trio Bryce Molder, Kevin Sutherland and Brock Mackenzie.

Englighman Luke Donald is in a group of nine players at eight-under-par, but the Ryder Cup hopeful has seven shots to make up on Wilson.

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Ryder Cup stalwart Padraig Harrington has revealed he is starting to feel the pressure of securing a place in the European team but says he is playing well enough to merit his inclusion in the side (Europe 4/7 to win the Ryder Cup).

The three time Major winner’s last victory came at the Irish PGA Championship last summer but despite missing the cut at last week’s Open at St Andrews, he insists his form is good enough to qualify for the European side.

“I’m coming under a little bit of pressure at the moment, there is plenty of expectation,” Harrington said on Sky Sports News. “But I’ve had 14 top tens in the last year, which is probably more than I have ever had.”

Harrington currently sits ninth in the European Ryder Cup standings and is one of a number of big names who are struggling to qualify, with both Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia also finding it difficult.

Harrington is likely to gain one of Colin Montgomerie’s captain’s picks if he fails to qualify but the Irishman is determined to get there on his own accord.

“Nobody can be sure of being picked, there’s going to be a lot of doubt when it comes down to it. There will be seven guys going for three spots so there’s going to be four guys unhappy. The scoring is there, I just need to win a tournament.”

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Open champion Louis Oosthuizen lost the lead at the Nordea Scandinavian Masters in Stockholm today, but still has a chance to make history this weekend…

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Anthony Kim admits he cannot wait to get back out onto the course and prove he is worthy of a place in the USA’s Ryder Cup team (USA 7/4 to win Ryder Cup).

The talented American has missed the last two months of the PGA Tour due to thumb surgery and says he is now ready to make his return to the course.

Kim’s injury problems have meant he has missed both the US Open and The Open but the 25-year-old says he expects to be back in time to challenge for the next month’s USPGA Championship (Kim 50/1 to win the tournament) at Whistling Straits.

He told Sky Sports: “I’m feeling good, I want to be out there. It’s tough to be on the golf course and not bring my clubs but everything happens for a reason and when I come back I’ll be better than ever.

“It’s been tough to sit and watch two majors go by and miss tournaments that I really want to play.

“My goal is to play better in majors so I want to make sure that I’m ready to play in the US PGA Championship.”

Despite the long lay-0ff, Kim currently sits fourth in the US Ryder Cup standings and is hoping for strong performances at both the USPGA and the upcoming WGC Championship at Firestone to cement his place in Corey Pavin’s side.

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America’s Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin says he has no doubts that Tiger Woods will rediscover his form in time for the Celtic Manor showdown in October (USA 7/4 to win).

The world number one currently sits seventh on the American Ryder Cup Points list but Woods needs strong performances in the last two big-money events of the qualifying campaign to guarantee his place at Celtic Manor.

Woods is likely to only play at the WGC Invitational at Firestone and the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, which is the final event of qualifying.

Speaking at his press conference at the Senior Open Championship, the 50-year-old told repoerters that he was sure that Woods would be back to top form for the competition and commented on how he believed Woods had shown signs of improvement at last week’s Open.

“He himself said he drove the ball better at St Andrews but didn’t putt well, and when that comes around he’s going to do better, and we’ll see that in the next couple of weeks,” said Pavin.

“I want him on the team, there’s no question that the the number one player in the world is going to make Team USA better.

“I’d like to see him play well in the next two tournaments and make it on points and I think he will.”

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