Justin Rose is taking nothing for granted as he looks to book his place in Europe’s Ryder Cup Team with a fine display at The KLM Open in Holland this week.
With two weeks to go in the race for Ryder Cup places, the man ranked 12th in the world and eighth on the points list looks set for a Cup debut, but he is leaving nothing to chance.
"I might not need to make one more Euro, but by coming here it's in my hands," he said.
"It's certainly a situation where I would not feel comfortable sitting in the States. But I am still in a very comfortable situation - the other three (who would need to overtake him to push out of automatic qualification) are really sweating over it."
Rose is €57,468 ahead of Oliver Wilson, who in turn is €3,021 ahead of Soren Hansen. The closest gap, though, is between Hansen and 11th placed Martin Kaymer, who are separated by a mere €268.
A top three finish should virtually guarantee Rose a first cap, but he still has the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles if he needs more points. If his selection is dependant on a wild card pick from Captain Nick Faldo, Rose is confident he will not be over-looked in favour of more experienced players.
He said: "I think there's enough experience there already. The team is looking exceptionally strong."
Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Graeme McDowell are all on Faldo's Team - and of those, Ulsterman McDowell is the only uncapped player.
Rose, Wilson, Hansen and Kaymer would all be debutants.
Hansen has not had a top 60 finish in his last four starts, but gave his confidence a much-needed boost on Monday when he had a putt for a 59 in a company day for one of his sponsors.
"It was from 30 feet, and I hit it way too hard and three-putted," said the Dane.
Wilson goes head-to-head with Rose in the opening two rounds but will be just as interested in how Hansen, Kaymer and those just a bit further back - defending KLM Open champion Ross Fisher and Nick Dougherty - are faring.
"I was expecting it to be me, Soren and Martin playing together, but I'm really pleased," said Wilson.
"I love watching Justin swing, and we get on well.
"I would have taken this position at the start of the year. But I should have had it tied up a long time ago."
Rose is enjoying the prospect of tackling the Kennemer Golf and Country Club. He added: “It’s a good course. Obviously you don’t expect a links style lay-out like this to be as soft as it is but that’s because we have just had so much rain. But I like the course, it’s tight and you need to play good golf out here to do well.”
Fisher won his first title on The European Tour at this event last year and wants more of the same. He said: “I am here to defend the Dutch Open. The Ryder Cup is a few weeks away and I am not thinking about it. I am thinking about one tournament at a time and if I can do well here this week I will obviously give myself a chance, but The Ryder Cup wasn’t among my goals of the season. It’s nice to have played myself into this position and to know that I am in Nick’s thoughts but there are a lot of good players here this week and it’s going to be tough.
“I have very fond memories from last year – it’s always nice to get your maiden Tour win under the belt. I have been looking forward to this for some time now. I just want to get out there and get started.”
