Some big guns are sure to fall without reaching Valhalla

INVARIABLY COOL, mostly calm and nearly always collected, Nick Faldo isn't the type you'd expect to lose too much sleep over anything. But, then, he's never been a Ryder Cup captain before.

And, as more and more boxes get ticked by those who have qualified for Europe's team for the defence of the trophy in Valhalla next month, there are worry lines appearing in relation to those who have not yet nailed down their places on the team.

Faldo must be wondering what on earth is happening as his team unfolds. As things stand, Sergio Garcia hasn't got a place. Nor has Ian Poulter or Paul Casey, while Justin Rose is hanging on by his fingertips. Luke Donald, another outside the loop, has a wrist injury, and even Faldo has conceded that picking him would be a big risk.

"He would need to be a pick, and to pick a player who is injured would be a major story," said Faldo recently.

Then, there's Colin Montgomerie. The old hand of the Ryder Cup is also outside an automatic place and, although he would be Pádraig Harrington's first choice as a playing partner, the simple fact is that the Scot - at the moment - is not playing well.

And, in terms of a pecking order for one of Faldo's wild-card picks, Monty, you feel, is down the list, unless the likes of Garcia or Casey or, for that matter, Darren Clarke - who'd be Lee Westwood's preferred foil - lock down positions after this week's US PGA where there is a huge purse and significant Ryder Cup points available.

Westwood's runner-up finish to Vijay Singh in the Bridgestone Invitational has moved him to the top of both the world points and European lists. With a grin on Sunday, Westwood remarked: "I'm double-locked (for a place on the team), I've got the bolt and the Chubb on."

While American captain Paul Azinger has four picks, Faldo has - as is traditional in Europe - just two. The eight automatic selections on the US team will be confirmed on Sunday night, after the US PGA. But Azinger has deferred naming his wild cards until after he knows the full make-up of the European team.

The qualifying process for the European team finishes on August 31st, at the Johnnie Walker championship at Gleneagles. The top five players will come off the world points list, with the next five from the European points list. At this point, six players are certain of their places: Westwood, Harrington, Robert Karlsson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell.

After that, it gets interesting.

The other four who have automatic places on the European team are Oliver Wilson, Soren Hansen, Martin Kaymer and Rose. But they are all precariously placed, with Kaymer and Rose particularly vulnerable.

In Rose's case, Garcia is just outside an automatic place off the world list and should conceivably move up that list (he is sixth) with the number of points available at this week's US PGA here in Detroit and, then, the first of the FedEx Cup tournaments - the Barclays - later this month.

The second of the FedEx tournaments, the Deutsche Bank championship in Boston, won't count towards the qualifying as that has a Monday finish, on September 1st, the day after the European qualifying finishes.

The big pot on offer this week - both in world ranking points and the European listing - means Faldo will have a clearer picture of who will be automatic selections and who will require a wild card.

Paul McGinley's chances are all but gone, after fading away over the weekend in Akron. He isn't in the field here, and will make a last-gasp bid by playing in the final counting events: the Scandinavian Masters next week, the Dutch Open and the Johnnie Walker.

But, it seems, his best chance of being at Valhalla would be if Faldo asked him to rejoin his back-up team as a vice-captain.