Time is running out

It has been another jam-packed week of golf on both sides of the Atlantic and as every tournament passes, the Ryder Cup picture is becoming clearer and clearer.

We won't reach the first tee at Celtic Manor until October 1, but there is now little more than a month to go until Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin confirm the 24 players to take part in this year's event.

The eight American qualifiers will be confirmed at the end of the PGA Championship in just two weeks time before Pavin announces his four wildcard selections on September 7. Monty will complete his European team at Gleneagles on August 29, so the European players really will be doing all they can to make the grade over the next four weeks.

England's Ross Fisher was the first of those European hopefuls to step-up to the plate at the weekend, taking the Irish Open in record-equalling style at Killarney - despite a thrilling late challenge from home favourite Padraig Harrington.

From three behind, Harrington might have thought a closing seven under par 64 would seal his national title for the second time in four years. But Fisher, having lost the six stroke lead he held in the third round, responded with a 65 to take his fourth European Tour title by two.

The 29-year-old's 266 aggregate, 18 under par, matched the tournament record set nine years ago by a certain Colin Montgomerie - and with it Fisher climbs all the way from 13th to sixth in the race for places in Montgomerie's Ryder Cup Team.

His return to winning form could not have come at a better time. The World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational starts on Thursday in Akron, Ohio, and after that comes the final Major of the season, the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Only a few days after Fisher narrowly missed out on the milestone in Ireland, Australian Stuart Appleby, without the pressure of Ryder Cup qualification on his mind, became the first non-American to shoot a 59 on the PGA Tour on his way to winning the Greenbrier Classic in West Virginia.

The 39-year-old is only the fifth PGA Tour player to reach the milestone. It comes less than a month after Paul Goydos achieved the feat at the John Deere Classic.

Appleby's round, which included nine birdies and an eagle at the 12th, saw him come from seven shots back to beat Jeff Overton by a stroke. It was Appleby's first title since the 2006 Houston Open and his ninth US PGA Tour victory overall.

The latest young star of the Ladies game, Yani Tseng from Taiwan, held off the challenge of Katherine Hull to win the Ricoh Women's British Open by one shot at Royal Birkdale and continue her amazing rise to prominence.

The 21-year-old started the final day with a four stroke cushion but allowed the field to close in with bogeys at the third, eighth and tenth. The gap was down to just one with five holes to play but Tseng held her nerve, rolling in a six foot putt for par on the 18th green to finish on 11 under par.

It was just enough for her to become the youngest player to ever win three majors. Her other triumphs came at the 2008 LPGA Championship and then this year's Kraft Nabisco Championship.

This week the competition hots up again at the aptly named Firestone Country Club where the world's best will compete for the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational Trophy, a huge prize fund and more precious Ryder Cup points.

The added spice comes in the knowledge that any of the top three players in the world - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood - could be crowned world number one by Sunday evening.

Tiger might have something to say about that and won't be giving up his title easily; he rather likes this course, considering the fact he has won there seven times previously!