The race for a place in Paul McGinley's European team for The 2014 Ryder Cup is progressing apace with big-points events such as last week's Open Championship and the upcoming tournaments stateside set to play a huge part in who makes the cut for Gleneagles. With just six weeks and six European Tour events remaining of the qualification period, which ends at the close of the Italian Open in the last week of August, the time-frame in which to make a decisive move into the automatic spots is rapidly dwindling. Last Sunday, Rory McIlroy not only captured his third Major title in hoisting the Claret Jug at Hoylake, but the Northern Irishman also cemented his place in McGinley's side by reaching over three million points to move well clear at the top of the European Points List. It will be the 25 year old's third successive Ryder Cup, having debuted at Celtic Manor and made a second appearance in the stunning comeback two years later at Medinah Country Club, but whether his long-time playing partner Graeme McDowell can also secure one of the nine automatic spots is currently less clear-cut. More...