James plays the Ryder Cup waiting game

Mark James isn't losing any sleep yet in his role as Europe's Ryder Cup captain, although the next few weeks - and the advent of the big-money tournaments on the European Tour - may determine whether or not he is destined to follow his predecessor and experience such sleepless nights.

Yesterday, at The K Club, a course that will experience the real thing in 2005, James was in relaxed mood and his arrival in Ireland, to honour a long time commitment to play in the annual Chris de Burgh charity Pro-Am, seemed quite appropriate given the moving of a number of Irish players in Europe's Ryder Cup table in recent weeks.

Indeed, it's ironic that, at a time when there is much talk and debate about how many Swedes will make the team for Brookline in September, three Irish players have manoeuvred themselves into healthy positions. Darren Clarke may have slipped to sixth - from a starting position of second at the commencement of the season - but Paul McGinley (13th) and Padraig Harrington (14th) have made ground and all three have selection in their own hands with 18 counting tournaments remaining before the process concludes at the BMW International in Munich in August.

Clarke's early-season difficulties haven't gone unnoticed by James, but the team captain won't be offering any advice. "The last thing any player needs is for me to be breathing over his shoulder," said James. "Darren is going through a bad patch at the moment but I expect him to work his way out of it. I hope he does. I've heard he is easing off on the technical aspects of his game and I truly hope that works for him."

He added: "Darren would be a great asset to the team. He has been a fantastically good player over the last couple of years when, I believe, he brought his game onto a new level."

Of the three Irish players in the shake-up, Clarke is the only one to have experienced Ryder Cup action, at Valderrama two years ago, but James would have no worries about McGinley or Harrington should either, or both, force their way into the team that will defend the trophy against the Americans.

"Paul looks as though he is ready to realise his potential, and Padraig is the same as well. Both look as if they could move further up the rankings and it wouldn't surprise me. They are very solid players and there is no reason why they can't," said James. "Obviously, making the Ryder Cup has to be a goal for them, it has to be for anyone verging on the team. However, they can't really say it is because that only leads to further pressure and stress."

So far this season, there have been seven first-time winners on the European Tour, five of them Europeans which contrived to give the Ryder Cup table a rather odd appearance for much of the last three months. But James estimates that number of new winners to be "about normal. I haven't got the statistics at hand but that figure strikes me as being the average. However, even over the past few weeks, the table has changed and I would expect it to change again over the next few weeks. I expect the team to start taking shape in the coming weeks."

Certainly, Jesper Parnevik's decision to return to the European Tour in an attempt to play his way into the team, rather than rely on a captain's wild card pick, has pleased James. Parnevik intends to play in the TPC of Europe in Heidleberg in two weeks time and the following week's Volvo PGA at Wentworth. "I'm glad to see him playing more in Europe," admitted James. "That was a tremendous win of his last week (in the Greater Greensboro Classic) and there is no doubt he is one of our better players."

And Europe's captain isn't too worried by the number of players without previous Ryder Cup experience who are knocking on the door this time, putting it down to a sign of the strength of the tour rather than any sign of weakness. "A good inexperienced player is usually better than an experienced player . . . it is only if they are both playing the same that I would go for experience," he remarked.

Clearly, the captaincy hasn't affected James. But why should it? He played in seven Ryder Cup encounters from 1987 to 1995 and the man who won his first Irish Open title 20 years ago this year is clearly enjoying the responsibility. "It's pretty good fun," he admitted, "and I'm certainly not losing any sleep over it. It hasn't affected me from a playing point either. I've found it quite easy to divorce the two roles of captain and player."

And what of The K Club? "It will be a very good venue," he insisted. "The lay-out is excellent and it is obvious they are continuing to put money into the course, with extra tree-planting and such like. Hopefully, the greens will be A-1 by the time the Ryder Cup takes place here, in fact even before that, which I am sure they will."