Cold-eyed Stephen Gallacher set for Ryder Cup slot

As one Stevie G takes his leave of the international arena another prepares to debut.

We shall learn tomorrow that Stephen Gallacher did not need to cleave a top-two finish from the Italian Open yesterday to make Europe’s Ryder Cup team since he was a shoo-in as a captain’s pick.

That he gave it a rip, denied only by the blistering climax of David Howell, whose final round 63 edged out Gallacher’s 65, was just confirmation that the 39-year-old Scot is made of the stuff of Ryder Cup conquest.

Howell said it would be a travesty were Gallacher not selected when Paul McGinley reveals his three wild cards at Wentworth tomorrow. There is nil chance of that. Like the retired general of English football’s ‘golden generation’, Steven Gerrard, Gallacher guarantees commitment.

His victory in Dubai in February, becoming the first player to retain the Desert Classic trophy in its 25-year history, eclipsing a resurgent Rory McIlroy and a fit Tiger Woods, confirmed him as a cold-eyed finisher on a rising career trajectory.

That events in Europe, where Gallacher plays the majority of his golf, are not weighted with the same ranking points as the PGA Tour in America is the statistical hammer that denied him one of the nine automatic slots, and only by a fraction to Graeme McDowell.

So when McGinley reveals all, don’t be surprised if Gallacher and not Ian Poulter, who is also expected to make the squad alongside Lee Westwood, is the first name on his sheet.

McGinley said: “This was a terrific performance by Stephen. The gun was to his head but he performed very strongly. For a rank-and-file guy from the European Tour who doesn’t play in America and misses out on a lot of the ranking points as a result, to perform as well as he does is all credit to him.”