Lee Westwood could face Ryder Cup heartbreak after pulling out of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio because of a calf injury (Europe – 8/15 to beat USA).

The world number three says the ruptured plantaris muscle in his right calf is giving cause for concern, and he cannot at the moment guarantee he will be fit for October’s clash with USA.

The 37-year-old suffered the injury at the end of June, and has been struggling since although he managed to play through the pain to finish second to Louis Oosthuizen (66/1 – to win the USPGA Championship) in the Open at St Andrews.

Overnight, he pulled out of the Bridgestone event and also announced he would not be competing at next week’s USPGA Championship.

“I will be out for as long as it takes to get right,” Westwood told reporters after a second round of 76 left him seven over par at Firestone.

“Hopefully it will be in time for the Ryder Cup.”

Westwood added: “It just seems to be getting worse. There’s no strength in it.

“I don’t have a deal of confidence in it, and then on the way down I’m finding it hard to hold my weight on it and then push off.”

Asked what he could do to get better, Westwood added: “Sit on my backside for six weeks like they keep telling me. It’s the only way to improve it.

“I’d like to be working out and I can’t put any weight on it in the gym, so my legs feel weak. That’s just it.”

Six weeks out would leave Westwood with around two weeks to get ready for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, which starts on October 1.

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Defending champion YE Yang will play alongside struggling 14-time major winner Tiger Woods, still 7/1 favourite for the title, for the first two rounds of next week’s USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

South Korean Yang is aiming to win back-to-back USPGA titles after becoming the first Asian player ever to win a major last year when seeing off Woods at the Hazeltine National.

The duo will tee-off alongside another former PGA Championship winner, Vijay Singh, while the three previous winners of the majors of the year will again go head-to-head next week – Masters winner Phil Mickelson (9/1), US Open champion Graeme McDowell and Open winner Louis Oosthuizen – all playing together.

Lee Westwood, meanwhile, is to be replaced by Kevin Sutherland, who will tee-off with Ernie Els (25/1) and Dustin Johnson and European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie goes up against Koumei Oda and Matt Kuchar.

US skipper Corey Pavin, plays with Ian Poulter (40/1) and Camilo Villegas (50/1) and 2008 champion Padraig Harrington (28/1), will enjoy the company of Davis Love III and John Daly during the first two days.

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Ross Fisher has scraped back into the world’s top 20 after his 3 Irish Open victory…

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Europe (8/15 to win the Ryder Cup) captain Colin Montgomerie has questioned the mental state of Tiger Woods ahead of the Ryder Cup against the USA (15/8 to win, 9/1 the tie), starting in October, and says the US PGA Championship is now ‘very important’ for the current world number one.

Woods has dropped out of the eight automatic places for the American team, and has intimated previously that he would not accept being a wildcard pick from American skipper Corey Pavin.

That leaves the 34-year-old with two tournaments to salvage his qualification, with this week’s Bridgestone Invitational followed by the final major of the year, the US PGA Championship, at Whistling Straits starting next week.

Depending on his performance at the Bridgestone, which is not looking good after a first-round four-over-par 74, Woods may head into the US PGA (for which he is the 7/1 favourite) without his number one ranking, and Montgomerie can see that Woods is clearly not playing as well as he can.

“He’s not mentally with it right now, that’s obvious. I hope he gets back to some form shortly,” Monty told Sky Sports News.

“He lost the world number one spot to Vijay Singh a while back and didn’t like that very much and got it back. This won’t please him at all.

“But more importantly right now for Tiger is thinking about the Ryder Cup, he’s not in the top eight of their qualifying.

“It doesn’t look like he’s going to be in the top eight after this event anyway and that makes the US PGA a very important event for him next week.

“Does Corey Pavin take a chance hoping Tiger’s form will change before the Ryder Cup? That’s up to him and not us.”

The Ryder Cup takes place at Celtic Manor from October 1-3, with the European team set to be confirmed after the Johnnie Walker Championship on August 29.

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Tiger Woods believes his game is improving as he looks to secure an eighth title at the Firestone Country Club this week. (Woods 4/1 to win WGC Bridgestone Invitational – In-Play)

The world number one has not won a tournament since the BMW Championship in September 2009 and spent five months out of the game to deal with his highly-publicised personal problems.

He has shown glimpses of his best form since returning to the sport at the Masters and finished fourth at Augusta and at the US Open at Pebble Beach.

The 34-year-old is now returning to a course on which he has already won seven titles – four when the event was sponsored by NEC and three since Bridgestone took over as the sponsors – and he feels there are signs that his game is coming together with the US PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup both on the horizon.

“I’ve been through stretches when I haven’t won and it’s a matter of putting the pieces together and being patient, it’s not something that happens overnight,” he said.

“I’m not one of those players who plays really badly and then really well. You start seeing trends and I’ve started to put things together and I am very excited.”

Woods needs a couple of good finishes in the next two tournaments to secure his automatic place in the US Ryder Cup team, after slipping to ninth in the standings, and it may be that Firestone is the perfect venue for Woods to kick-start his season after the turmoil he suffered at the beginning of the year. (USA 15/8 to win Ryder Cup)

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Tiger Woods is back needing a wild card to the Ryder Cup – all because of a player who has never won on the US Tour.

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Tiger Woods has been paired with Lee Westwood for the opening two rounds of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with the Englishman targeting the world number one spot. (Woods 5/6 to win two-ball)

Westwood must finish first or second to have any chance of taking Woods’ place as the number one golfer in the world but Phil Mickelson could also have a say in proceedings.

The Californian could reach number one with a top-four finish, providing that Woods finishes down the field at the Firestone Country Club.

But that seems unlikely to happen as the 14-time major winner has won the event seven times, including his last four appearances at the venue.

Woods missed out in 2008 through injury but won in 2009 with a score of 12-under par.

He has yet to win anywhere in the world this season, after taking time out of the sport to sort out his personal problems, but has shown glimpses of the old magic with fourth-place finishes at both the Masters and the US Open.

The Florida resident needs a couple of good finsihes in both Ohio and at the US PGA if he is to secure automatic qualification into the US Ryder Cup team but his record in Akron would seem to suggest that a return to the top of the leaderboard could be on the cards this week. (Woods 9/2 to win tournament)

Woods has been at the top of the rankings for more than five years and will be desperate to hold on to the coveted spot, especially with his great rival, Mickelson, the man who is in pole position to knock him off his perch.

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Justin Rose remains determined to play his way into Europe Ryder Cup team (8/15 favourites in the antepost betting) but is hopeful that his performance from two years ago will swing things in his favour if he has to rely on being one of captain Colin Montgomerie’s wildcard selections.

USA were comfortable 16.5-11.5 winners at Valhalla two years ago to end a three-event losing streak but are available at 15/8 to retain the trophy (9/1 the tie) when battle commences at Celtic Manor in October.

There is not long to go now before the team is confirmed on August 29 after the conclusion og the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, and some big names, including Rose, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia, currently sit out of the automatic top nine in the standings.

Should Rose miss out on automatic selection, he remains hopeful that the strong partnership he formed with Ian Poulter two years ago will persuade Montgomerie to include him in the team as one of his picks.

“I think you’ve got to look at natural pairings, there is no doubt about it,” he said. “Me and Poults did really well together last time and we feel very comfortable playing together in both formats. I think we work well together, we read greens well together.

“But then you have also got the Molinari brothers who are both there and thereabouts – another great natural pairing I’d assume… then there’s GMac (Graeme McDowell) and (Rory) McIlroy, so the team shapes up really well from that perspective, assuming I can play my way on. Who knows? If it counts in my favour, then who knows?”

Rose, who has one twice on the PGA Tour in the last two months and lies fourth on the FedEx Cup points list, can propel himself up the Ryder Cup standings with a strong performance at the year’s final major, the US PGA Championship, which gets underway on August 12.

Rose is currently available at 33/1 in the ante post outright market, headed by the world’s top two players, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at 13/2 and 11/1 respectively.

Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy are both on offer at 16/1, ahead of Ernie Els at 25/1 and Harrington at 28/1.

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Ross Fisher had mixed feelings after seeing his lead trimmed to a solitary stroke as his third round at the 3 Irish Open tailed off following a flying start.

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Jeff Overton (Evs in the Outright Winner market) has opened up a four-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Greenbrier Classic after shooting an impressive second round 62.

The 27-year-old is without a win in five years on the US Tour, but is in a strong position to pick up the winner’s cheque in West Virginia.

Overton, who finished tied 11th at The Open, is currently 12th in the FedEx Cup standings but a win on Sunday will see him move up to second place in the money list.

He admitted afterwards: “As soon as I hit my driver on the first hole and I hit a good wedge shot in there, I knew that I was gonna have a good round.”

Boo Weekley (5/4 to beat Overton in 3rd round two-ball) is Overton’s closest challenger after carding a 63, to leave him on ten-under-par. Jimmy Walker and joint first-round leader Erik Compton are a further shot back at -9.

Only three Europeans made the cut – Swedes Richard S Johnson and Carl Pettersson, and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who shot a second round 67 to leave him at five-under-par.

British trio Greg Owen, Brian Davis and Martin Laird all missed the cut, after finishing the second round on level par, +4 and +5 respectively.

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