Bernhard Langer, the captain, is likely to make Colin Montgomerie one of his two wild-card picks, but his second choice is more difficult. Luke Donald gave ample evidence of his talent during his domination of the Scandinavian Masters. But is Donald more worthy than the Swede Fredrik Jacobson? Jacobson is 22 places higher than Donald on the world rankings. He is also extremely good at making things happen, something that makes quite a difference in a fourball.
What is certain is that the injustice inflicted on Robert Karlsson in 1999 by Mark James is unlikely to be repeated. Then, Karlsson was 10th going into Munich but was overtaken by Padraig Harrington. Yet the Swede still had a much stronger case for a wild card than the Scot Andrew Coltart. The choice of Coltart remains as unfathomable now as it was five years ago.