Chopra opens Ryder door

A couple of months ago in the NCG offices, for a bit of fun, we all predicted what Nick Faldo's European team would look like come September's Ryder Cup.

I won't embarrass either myself or my colleagues by revealing some of the names that came up but I will admit that Daniel Chopra's was not among them.

But the US-based Swede has now won twice in the space of less than three months, and also featured in a play-off for the Australian Masters. He won the PGA Tour's Ginn sur Mer Classic in late October, and that earned him a place at Kapalua for the Mercedes. By claiming the season-opener, following a play-off with Steve Striker, the 34-year-old has suddenly vaulted into second place on Europe's world points list. The top five on this list at the cut-off point in August will automatically make it onto Faldo's team.

Chopra has already a place at the Masters and his ranking is now high enough to guarantee entry into at least the first two WGC events, which take place in February and March respectively.

This all means he has a great chance to cement his place. The only problem is, Chopra is not a member of the European Tour, which must change if he is to be eligible to make the team. This brings with it the requirement to play in at least 11 events. Chopra, then, will have to alter his schedule, albeit not that significantly should he go on to play in all four Majors and the three WGC events.

Most likely, a couple of events around The Open, such as the Scottish Open, will help him to the required number.

As a hardened member of the PGA Tour, Chopra would surely be an asset to the European team but his form does make life more difficult for the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Carl Pettersson, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ian Poulter. All of these players are likely to have targeted the world points list as their most likely method of qualifying for the team, because they play much of their golf away from the European Tour.

It all suggests that this will be the most competitive race for to make the European team we have ever seen.

By Dan Murphy