no easy ryder for broadhurst

By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

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Paul Broadhurst has lost his place in the world's top 50 - and unless he grabs it back this week his hopes of returning to Europe's Ryder Cup team will be hanging by a thread.

American captain Tom Lehman's second-place finish at the US Tour's International tournament lifted him back into the top 50 and qualified him for next week's Bridgestone World Championship in Akron.

Broadhurst, just outside the top 10 in the European cup race, slips from 50th to 51st as a result of missing the halfway cut in Holland and so is still looking for a spot at what is the penultimate qualifying event for Ian Woosnam's side.

Bizarrely almost, if Sergio Garcia had played better in America this weekend Broadhurst would have been 10th on the table and not 11th heading to the USPGA Championship in Chicago.

That is because Garcia had the chance to overtake Luke Donald on the world points list from which the first five places will be determined.

And since Donald is only 13th on the European points list from which the next five come Paul McGinley would have moved up to ninth and Broadhurst to 10th.

McGinley misses this week's final major of the season this week to attend the funeral of Darren Clarke's wife Heather, who lost her long struggle with cancer early on Sunday morning.

Although he knows he could drop down the standings McGinley stressed it was an "easy decision" to make.

"Some things are more important than the Ryder Cup and this is one of them," he said. "It was not really a big decision. It was a decision I made quite easily to be honest and I'm not the one to have sympathy for."

Woosnam said he could understand McGinley's decision, adding: "Would Heather want Paul to do that? I can understand what he is doing. That's up to Paul, he is very close to the family."