Nick Faldo has hailed Padraig Harrington's major double as a huge boost for Europe as they look to land an unprecedented fourth successive Ryder Cup win next month.

"I was delighted and impressed with Padraig's performance and he's going to bring something very special to the team," said Faldo after watching Open winner Harrington and Sergio Garcia finish first and joint second in the USPGA Championship.

"Having the only current major champion at the Ryder Cup (US Open champion Tiger Woods is missing for the USA) will add significant weight to our campaign.

"I was also pleased to see Sergio move up the qualification table (into third spot) as I think he'll bring just the right kind of passion to the tournament."

There are three more events to come before Faldo has to name his two wild cards, but even with Garcia moving into the top 10 the task is still not an easy one.

Faldo's job hasn't been helped by Paul Casey's decision to stay in America rather than return to Europe as Justin Rose and Ian Poulter are both poised to do.

Rose, now eighth in the standings, has entered next week's KLM Open in Holland, but said via his official website: "I don't know whether I have done enough yet to get into the team. I hope so, but I might not have.

"I might have to head to Europe to play the Dutch and the Scottish (the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on August 28-31).

"I have entered both but I am not sure yet. I don't know - it's a frustrating situation."

Poulter is 12th in the standings and was also scheduled to play the FedEx Cup, but is set to return to Europe.

With Luke Donald still to come back from a wrist injury that has kept him out of action since the US Open in June, it is Poulter, Casey and Colin Montgomerie who will likely battle for the wild card spots.

Montgomerie has the experience, while Harrington has stated firmly that he would like to see the Scot selected.

But after two bad weeks - 77th out of 80 in the Bridgestone World Championship and then 149th out of 155 at the PGA - Montgomerie is planning a two-week break.

That means he can no longer qualify automatically and he will almost certainly have to be in contention at Gleneagles to have a chance of a pick.