Sweet Ryder scent in Cologne

On this day, in 12 months, the European team will be assembling in Oakland Hills, Detroit, for the 35th Ryder Cup match. It may seem a long way away just now.

But a sure sign that the minds of many players have started to rediscover cup fever, or at least are out to make an early impression on their captain, is reflected in the entry for this week's Linde German Masters in Cologne - which happens to be promoted by Europe's captain, Bernhard Langer - where no fewer than 10 members of last year's winning team plan to be in action. The exceptions are Sergio Garcia and Jesper Parnevik, who play the bulk of their golf on the US Tour.

By any standards, however, the entry for this €3 million tournament - with €500,000 to the winner - is impressive. And among those seeking to accumulate early points in a campaign that is entering its third week are Ireland's current Ryder Cup players, Paul McGinley, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington.

McGinley, in fact, has gone to the top of the restructured Ryder Cup table after his runners-up finish to Retief Goosen in the Lancome Trophy in Paris. By a quirk of fate, the first two counting tournaments were won by non-Europeans, Ernie Els (European Masters) and Goosen (Lancome Trophy), and McGinley, who is finally enjoying a resurgence of form, following on from his win in the Irish PGA the previous week, is the one to benefit most from that.

When Phillip Price secured the 10th and last automatic place on the team for the match in 2002, he had €858,944 - and McGinley is already one-quarter of the way towards that total. However, the restructuring of the qualifying system, which will see five players qualifying from a year-long table of world ranking points, means a figure closer to €1.5 million could be required this time round to book an automatic place.

Still, McGinley can head to Cologne knowing not only he has made a solid start towards qualification but also that he is again displaying form that is putting him into contention in tournaments. He has moved to 27th in the European Tour Order of Merit.

The 10 European Ryder Cup players competing in Cologne are: McGinley, Clarke (the 1996 champion), Harrington, Thomas Bjorn, Niclas Fasth, Pierre Fulke, Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Price and Lee Westwood.

For Clarke, though, there is more than Ryder Cup points on his mind. A winner of the Northern Ireland Masters in Clandeboye (he donated his €35,877 prize to his Darren Clarke Foundation, which assists juniors in Ireland) on Sunday, Clarke resumes the rather more serious business of attempting to catch Order of Merit leader Els. He is €604,732 behind the South African.

If the Northern Ireland Masters sticks with the same date in September, it will be a week before next year's Ryder Cup. Clarke, though, remarked: "I can never know so far in advance what my schedule is going to be like, (but) it would be good to come home and defend it. For me, the tournament was a huge success."

The immediate future sees Clarke playing in Cologne this week, the Dunhill Links next week and then the American Express Championship in Atlanta (which counts towards the European money list) the following week.

Harrington has a similar schedule, while the fourth Irish player in the field in Germany this week is Graeme McDowell.

Meanwhile, the European Tour has confirmed record prize money of €3.5 million for the season-ending Volvo Masters at Valderrama on October 30th-November 2nd, a tournament which is likely to decide the Order of Merit title. Entry is restricted to the leading 60 players in the Order of Merit after the preceding week's Madrid Open. The champion will receive a cheque for €583,330, greater than the total prize fund at the inaugural Volvo Masters, won by Nick Faldo in 1988.

"This announcement further enhances the status of this prestigious tournament, which brings our season to an exciting climax at one of the world's great courses," said Ken Schofield, chief executive of the European Tour in making the announcement yesterday.

Last year, Langer and Montgomerie shared the title after a two-hole, sudden-death play-off failed to separate the pair, who had tied on a three-under-par total of 281. Due to the fading light, they agreed to share the title.

"I am fully behind the decision to change the qualification process this year so that it is just the top 60 players on the Order of Merit who compete," claimed Montgomerie. "I am very much looking forward to going back and I sincerely hope that Bernhard is in the top 60 at the end of the year too so that both defending champions can tee up."

Several leading players, including Garcia and Langer, are just outside the top 60 and must force their way into the field over the next few weeks.

On the US Champions Tour, Des Smyth's tied-fourth finish in Baltimore - behind Larry Nelson - keeps him in 16th position on the money list with $921,625, while Eamonn Darcy is on the bubble in the fight to retain his tour card. He is 34th with earnings of $449,737.

ORDER OF MERIT (Irish positions): 2nd, Darren Clarke €1,822,743; 4th, Padraig Harrington €1,230,469; 27th, Paul McGinley €576,531; 49th, Peter Lawrie €348,454; 50th, Gary Murphy €331,148; 81st, Graeme McDowell €214,859; 135th, Damien McGrane €121,152; 171st, Ronan Rafferty €54,911; 201, Philip Walton €25,539.

EUROPEAN RYDER CUP TABLE (Irish positions): 1st, McGinley 200,000 pts; 15th, McGrane 33,360 pts; 23rd, Harrington 25,980 pts.