HAD Nick Faldo been here yesterday he would have witnessed some amount of incident, some rounds to savour from the men in his Ryder Cup team and those battling away on the fringes, some heroics from Oliver Wilson and Nick Dougherty, two guys playing and revelling in the most severe pressure, some nervy stuff from the unflappable Soren Hansen, who virtually guaranteed himself a place at Valhalla after his 68, some fireworks from Justin Rose, who is all but on the plane to Kentucky following a 67.
Gleneagles was birdie heaven. There were stacks of them to be had at the Johnnie Walker Championship. Not that it would have concerned Faldo unduly but Stephen Gallacher had eight in his flawless round of 65. Sitting nicely on 7-under, the Scot is fo
ur shots behind the leader, Gregory Havret, a Frenchman who seems to reserve his best stuff for these shores. Gallacher's story was more of local interest on a day dominated by the chase for the last few remaining Ryder Cup spots, both at the tail end of the top 10 and the two wild card spots. Colin Montgomerie's miniscule prospects of securing a pick disappeared in a puff of smoke after his 76. Clarke's remain alive after a gutsy 73.
Yes, Faldo would have soaked it up. If he was here. Which, of course, he was not. A face in the crowd at the tennis at Flushing Meadows earlier in the week he was believed to be at a corporate day at Wentworth yesterday. No doubt he had his reasons and we'll be mightily interested to hear them when he announces his wild cards a little after 6pm this evening. Quite honestly, he's got a bit of talking to do today.
Who will he pick? Paul Casey and Clarke, who played nicely and rallied with two important late birdies after going double bogey-bogey on the 12th and 13th, remain the favourites but nobody should discount Martin Kaymer or Dougherty or even Carl Pettersen, the serial achiever on the PGA tour. Oh, and Mr Poulter. Monty had little to say – "not today, you've had plenty from me already this week" – but the chances of combustion down Dunning way will be very real should Poulter become a chosen one this evening.
Rose had some things to say on the Poulter business. "I had a brief chat with him," said Rose. "He's obviously feeling the pressure right now."
Has he any regrets?
"No, he's very determined. He makes his decision and sticks to it and to a certain extent that's what you've got to admire about him."
But he told two reporters in the States that he may have made a mistake.
"Did he? He didn't say that (to me] in so many words." Not in so many words, maybe, but there's a feeling around that penny has dropped with Poulter and he now realises that he's made a huge blunder by not being here this week.
The tournament itself has been cloaked in controversy – the state of the greens was a recurring theme again yesterday with Clarke three-putting from two feet on the second hole and four-putting the 12th – but despite everything it's turned into a hell of a race. Havret leads but there are plenty of heavies in his slipstream. Westwood could win, so could Hansen, so could Rose and the re-emerging David Howell. But as good as the charge for the title promises to be, much of the fascination will lie elsewhere. Namely, in the hunt for the remaining positions in Faldo's team.
Wilson is an overwhelming favourite to close the deal on 10th spot but Dougherty is trying to convince himself he's got a chance.
To make it simple, Dougherty (six behind the leader after his 69) has to win, pretty much, and hope that Wilson (eight behind after his 68) doesn't somehow finish in second place. Fanciful but enough to occupy Dougherty's mind. "It's a big ask," he said. "It's feasible, though. I like it when the chips are down and the chips are against me right now. I'll see if I can make Ollie sweat a little."
Wilson and Dougherty are good pals. Indeed, Dougherty paid a lovely tribute to Wilson, praising him to the high heavens for coming back from the dead in his second round. "If Ollie ends up getting that last spot, it bodes well for the Ryder Cup. The way he's had to dig deep this week has been fantastic. It's one thing to go out there and shoot the scores when you're playing well but to be looking like missing the cut and then shooting the scores, he's done a wonderful thing."
Wilson is made of very stern stuff, his comeback on Friday proof enough of that. He was in mortal danger of missing the cut after seven holes of his second round. Six-over at the time, he was four shots outside of the eventual cut-mark. In the tightest spot, Wilson conjured up something remarkable, two birdies and an eagle on his back nine and a finishing spot right on the bubble. "To be able to do that when my game wasn't where I wanted it to be was good," he said yesterday.
"I thought then that if I missed the cut then it was all over. I seem to have to be in that kind of situation to get the best out of myself. I don't know why. Maybe I need that bit of pressure to focus. I probably tinker with my swing a little and try too hard. I'm quite a natural player but I feel like I've lost that recently.
"Over the last four or five years I have lost the natural flow to my game by trying to swing it perfectly. You lose all the natural rhythm to your game and I'm trying to get it back."
A little over-critical for sure. The only problem with Wilson in his third round was a desperate lack of sleep. With all the tension of the situation, sleep did not come easily. He woke at 2am, nodded off again at 5.30am and was up half an hour later for a 7.47am tee-off time. "I was so tired this morning," he said. If he finishes the job today, as he surely will, tiredness won't seem like so much of an issue anymore.
The full article contains 1077 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
