Time for Team USA to step up to the plate

Opportunity knocks for every single American player heading into the lucrative FedEx Cup play-offs.

That’s because any one of them who hits a hot streak over the next few weeks could be on the plane to Gleneagles.

Tom Watson has three wild cards at his disposal for the Ryder Cup, and with Tiger Woods now out of the reckoning, it will be a real shoot-out.

Obviously, losing Tiger is a big blow but at least this ends all the speculation and gives Tom some valuable thinking time. That is good from a captain’s perspective.

I’m certain that Tom would have asked Woods for some kind of guarantees about his form and fitness.

And having watched him limp round Valhalla on his way to missing the cut at the US PGA, the answer was there for all to see.

Tiger simply rushed back too quickly from his surgery as he was desperate to play at venues where he had done well in the past.

Without Woods, all the spots are open, although some players are more likely candidates than others.

Keegan Bradley will have impressed Tom Watson by going on the scouting mission to Gleneagles in July, and he was only just outside the automatic spots.

He’s desperate to play and he’d love to resume the electric partnership he had with Phil Mickelson at Medinah.

But he is far from a shoo-in. If Bradley doesn’t perform well in the FedEx Series, he won’t make the team.

This stretch of tournaments will actually serve Tom Watson very well. Because of the huge money at stake and the cut-offs every week on the points list, it creates a pressurised environment.

Tom and his vice-captains can watch who thrives in those situations, and have a pointer on who would do well in a Ryder Cup away match.

To get one of the three spots, players must fulfil two criteria. Being on form is an absolute given, while Tom must balance that with who they could possibly partner on the team.

A wild-card pick must increase the options for the Foursomes and Fourballs. Don’t forget, there are more points at stake for those than in the Singles.

Brandt Snedeker caught fire in 2012 in the FedEx Cup, won the $10-million jackpot and was selected by Davis Love III.

Whatever happens, though, the USA will travel to Scotland as big underdogs, so Europe must not take them lightly.

Don’t believe the rubbish that the Europeans are more up for it. Americans are a proud and competitive bunch, and they are desperate to make amends for losing at Medinah.

And in Tom Watson, they have the ideal captain to inspire them.