The American had to finish in the top 15 at Whistling Straits to qualify automatically for Corey Pavin’s team. His below par performance meant that he finished 12th in the Ryder Cup standings, four places below the automatic selections.

He will now face an anxious wait to find out whether he will be representing USA at Celtic Manor later this year. Pavin will make his four wildcard selections on 7th September.

Anthony Kim and Lucas Glover also missed out on a place because of their disappointing positions in the USPGA and they will be waiting by the phone along with Woods next month.

Most would suggest that the World No.1 is likely to be picked by Pavin, but a select few are unsure. He has been in horrific form after all and his Ryder Cup record isn’t exactly superb.

Pavin will just have to ask himself – are USA more likely to win the Ryder Cup with or without Tiger Woods? – you would think the former, but we will just have to wait and see.

Europe are overwhelming favourites with those who judge US PGA odds to be victorious, so perhaps Pavin needs every superstar he can get. Could he even justify picking four players ahead of Woods?

Whatever decision he makes will create headlines so it is a massive decision for the new USA captain as the Ryder Cup moves closer and closer.

England have scored 26 and only conceded 4 in the campaign so far. The latest betting on Betfair (Tues, Sept 8th 2009) has England as the heavy favorites at 1.61 the draw at 3.9 and Croatia at 7.6, England will qualify for South Africa if they beat the Croatians, a draw will also be enough if the Ukraine fail to beat Belarus.

It’s a tricky game to call, England’s record so far in the competition is perfect, but Croatia will be pushing hard, as they need at least a draw to be in with a chance of reaching the World Cup finals via a play-off spot. I expect a cagey first half, this could be a good way to exploit the market with Betfair. My bet will be to back the draw @3.9 and wait for the clock to tick down during the first half, if no goals are scored by the 20-30 minute mark you should be able to lay the draw @ 3.0 or under to guarantee a profit whatever the outcome. You can use the Arb Calculator to work it out the lay stake if you want to get on the bet.