Sweden's Peter Hanson admits he was "trying to impress Colin a bit" as he put himself in the hunt at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational.
The Iberdrola Open Cala Millor Mallorca winner shot a second round 66 at Firestone to be five under at halfway, two behind clubhouse leader Retief Goosen.
And Hanson, who needs to overhaul six players by the end of the Johnnie Walker Championship for a qualification place, now has his sights firmly fixed on a spot in Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup side at The Celtic Manor Resort in October.
"I've been looking at that Ryder Cup list the last week when I went back home and felt I have two really good weeks here to get back into contention again," he said.
"I was closer maybe in June but fell back a bit now the last few tournaments. I really, really want to do all my best to get up there again and have a chance at it.
"I've been fairly happy with my game, just haven't scored great. A couple of decent finishes, US Open, French Open, but want to step it up a bit.
"I feel my game is pretty close, so keep going, keep working and give myself two really good weeks here and try to climb up and try to impress Colin a bit. I feel my game is good enough, it's just up to me to try and hang in there and work and push a bit harder and try to step it up a bit.
"It is very tough [to make The Team], but it would be a fantastic Team to be a part of, so of course when I looked at it last week it kind of gave me a bit of extra motivation again to really push on."
