Have you spent all that money on a ticket to watch the likes of Zach Johnson, Brett Wetterich, Vaughn Taylor and Lucas Glover tee up against Europe's finest?

Because, entering the final phase of the qualification process, almost half of the USA team as it currently stands has more of a Walker Cup than a Ryder Cup feel about it. And no amount of justification or explanation in the run-up to September's matches at the K Club can transform a quartet of faceless American pros . . . should they ultimately book their places in Tom Lehman's line-up . . . into marquee match-play competitors.

Admittedly, Lehman knows he will be able to count on the class and experience of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Chad Campbell and David Toms, but the lower half of his side at the moment does absolutely nothing to bolster the captain's stated determination to wrest the cup back from Europe following the humiliation of Oakland Hills two years ago.

"All the guys are realistic about the next two months, " said Lehman before the US Open. "It's a huge stretch not only for them personally with major championships and things they want to achieve, but also in terms of accumulating Ryder Cup points."

However, at Winged Foot, only two players, Mickelson and Furyk who are assured of their places anyway, of Lehman's current team managed to make the cut. Johnson and Glover, for all their consistency this season on the PGA Tour, went home on Friday, and Wetterich and Taylor didn't even qualify for the tournament in the first place.

Contrast that hugely disappointing return at America's national championship with Europe's performance. Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington and Kenneth Ferrie began the final round as genuine contenders . . . and Montgomerie should have and Harrington could have won a first major title . . . while Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Paul Casey, David Howell and Miguel Angel Jimenez survived until the weekend and finished in the top 20.

Notwithstanding the vagaries of form between now and the end of Europe's qualification process after the BMW International in Munich on 3 September, Ian Woosnam would be in a much stronger position than Lehman if the teams were finalised today.

Howell, Montgomerie, Casey and Henrik Stenson as well as Jose Maria Olazabal, who will be returning to Ryder Cup action for the first time since 1999, are certainties to be at the K Club barring injury. Paul McGinley, Sergio Garcia, Paul Broadhurst, Ferrie and Harrington currently fill the other five places, and if Woosnam had to make do with that team, he would in all probability choose his two wild cards from Thomas Bjorn, Donald and Jimenez.

Ideally, the captain would want Bjorn and Jimenez . . . just outside automatic qualification in 11th and 12th places respectively in the European points list . . . to book their places instead of Broadhurst and Ferrie. That would leave him more flexibility for his picks with Darren Clarke, who has been on the winning side in three of the last four matches, and Ian Poulter coming into the equation.

Harrington has made the most significant move of late from 15th in the list to 10th in less than a month, but is targeting one high finish in the coming weeks to assure himself of a place. "It's very hard to make a Ryder Cup team unless you make a big jump, win one tournament where you win a lot of points, " Harrington explained recently. "It's difficult to make it in small amounts. I'm knocking on the door with those small amounts, but I'd really like to make it with one good event."

As his schedule takes in lucrative tournaments such as the Smurfit Kappa European Open, which starts on Thursday at the K Club's Smurfit Course, the Scottish Open, the British Open, the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, the USPGA, the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW International, there is every chance that Harrington will become an automatic qualifier sooner rather than later. In the unlikely event of that not happening, he will be guaranteed a captain's pick.

The same cannot be said of McGinley, who is actually closer at the moment in terms of points to securing his place than Harrington. Troubled by yet another knee injury, McGinley has struggled to build on last October's victory at the Volvo Masters, where the first prize of 666,000 propelled him high up the standings, and it is estimated that he needs another 300,000 in earnings before the 3 September cut-off.

If McGinley's form remains a worry for Woosnam, he has been able to reflect on Howell's continuing rise as well as Casey's impressive rejuvenation. Howell more than justified his move into the world's top 10 with an outstanding victory at the BMW Championship at Wentworth in May, while Casey has come back from a slump last year when he failed to make a cut between April and August, to win twice this season. Since the Accenture World Match Play in February, he has finished in the top 20 in each of the seven tournaments he has played in.

Add that to Montgomerie's well being . . . the Scot's form is far better than it was going into the matches at Oakland Hills . . .

to the big-hitting Stenson's emergence, to Harrington's progress, to the proximity to automatic qualification of Donald, Bjorn and Jimenez, and to the vastly experienced Olazabal's imminent Ryder Cup return, and Europe is entitled to feel confident about its defence of the trophy.

Lee Westwood's miserable season, Garcia's indifferent putting and the uncertainty over Clarke cannot be ignored, but Woosnam still has a stronger hand at the moment than his American counterpart.

Asked about the possible inclusion of Johnson, Wetterich, Taylor and Glover, who have just one win between them this year and no previous experience of either the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup, Lehman admitted they were "new faces" but added that he wasn't surprised that they were in contention. "I think it's a reflection of what the points system was designed to do, " he said.

With points for a win on the regular PGA Tour increased for this season from 75 to 375, and with first place in a major offering 675 points instead of last year's 450, Lehman will be hoping that players of the calibre of Fred Couples and Chris DiMarco accumulate sufficiently before American qualifying ends after the USPGA at Medinah near Chicago on 20 August.

DiMarco, who forged an impressive partnership with Mickelson at the last Presidents Cup, has taken more time than expected to recover from a rib injury and is currently in 18th place, however, with those 675 points available for a major win which is more than Davis Love's overall total of 632 in the 10th and last automatic qualifying place, America's order is likely to change.

The presence of four rookies has in all probability been part of Lehman's rationale of not ruling himself out of a playing-captain's role, but in 22nd place in the standings, he needs to win a tournament to qualify. "My game has taken a back seat it seems, " he said. "Earlier in the season it was a little bit easier to be more focused, but it's getting more difficult as time goes by."

If untried and untested players such as Johnson, Wetterich, Taylor and Glover hang on to qualify for the K Club, it will be even more difficult for Lehman come September.