Broadhurst leaves McGinley in the clear

Paul McGinley will have every opportunity to extend his lead over Paul Broadhurst in the Ryder Cup standings after the Englishman missed the cut at the Dutch Open today.

McGinley currently occupies the final automatic qualifying position with Broadhurst just behind in 11th in the standings, but the Dubliner is likely to be around for the weekend having fought his way back to level par.

McGinley looked certain to make the team for the K Club after winning the Volvo Masters at the end of last season, but has slowly slipped down the standings.

Just three weeks remain after this before the team is finalised, but there could still be plenty of changes with next week's USPGA championship at Medinah followed by the lucrative WGC Bridgestone Invitational and the final counting event, the BMW International, in Munich.

McGinley's chances of gaining some vital points at Kennemer GC looked slim when he stood two over par after 14 holes of his first round, and then took a penalty drop on the 15th after his tee shot finished in a bush.

But the 39-year-old salvaged a bogey five and then birdied the 16th and 17th to post a respectable 72, and was back to level par for the tournament after seven holes of today's second round.

His fortunes took a turn for the worse with bogeys at the 17th and 18th before birdies on the fifth and sixth took him to level par, just inside the current predicted cut mark.

Broadhurst however was eight over par with four holes remaining after two double bogeys in the space of four holes after the turn. A birdie at the 17th proved scant consolation.

The 40-year-old will play in next week's USPGA championship at Medinah but could miss out on the following week's Bridgestone Invitational. The top 50 in the world rankings after the USPGA will be invited, and Broadhurst is currently 50th.

Woosnam is a close friend of Broadhurst and admitted on Wednesday he hoped the 40-year-old would qualify for the Ryder Cup, adding: "It's difficult with Broady. He is one of my best friends and I might get criticised if I pick him,
or if I leave him out."

After a delay of two hours and 10 minutes due to a thunderstorm this morning, Anders Hansen and Christian Cevaer remained in the lead on six under par after opening rounds of 65.