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European captain Colin Montgomerie wants and expects everybody still fighting for a Ryder Cup place to be in Scotland rather than America in the last week of qualifying.

Two years ago Ian Poulter caused a furore when he stayed in the States when he still could have got into the side on points by playing at Gleneagles in the Johnnie Walker Championship.

Nick Faldo stuck to his guns by picking Poulter, but whether Montgomerie - one of those who spoke out about the Englishman’s absence - hands anyone a wildcard in the same scenario now remains to be seen.

“I want to see them showing support for European golf and the European Tour and I will be very, very surprised if they are not there,” said the Scot on the eve of the Wales Open, over the same Celtic Manor course where October’s match takes place.

“That would make a whole lot of sense to a whole lot of people. I am convinced that I will have around eight candidates for three spots.

“You can count on those eight playing at Gleneagles. They will be there.”

It is not just any event in the States the same week, however.

It is the first of the four FedEx Cup play-off series events - a series that offers a 10million reward - and among those likely to have qualified are Poulter, Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Brian Davis.

Poulter and McIlroy have just about done enough to make it into the side on points already - as has Lee Westwood, who is not a US Tour member - and so will avoid Montgomerie’s wrath by being there, but the others need a strong summer to avoid the cup race coming down to the last few weeks or week.

Garcia, an ever-present in the side since he became the youngest-ever cup player at the age of 19 in 1999, told Press Association Sport last week: “The Ryder Cup is important, but you can’t change your whole schedule for it.”

Donald, meanwhile, commented: “That will be a tough call, whether I can afford to miss a play-off event. I’ll have to take it as it comes.”

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Seve Ballesteros will make an emotional return to St Andrews in July for a special four-hole event before the Open Championship, according to the president of the Spanish Golf Federation.

“He wants to be on the first tee at St Andrews for the four-hole tournament and he will probably be there,” RFEG president Gonzaga Escauriaza said.

“Seve is doing much better. He was doing very well last summer when he started playing again but then he went through radiotherapy and chemotherapy — that weakened him a bit but now he’s started to get better and better.”

Five-times major winner Ballesteros was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumour in 2008 which required four operations.

The 52-year-old Spaniard is among 32 former champions who have been invited to play four holes at St Andrews on July 14, the day before the 150th anniversary British Open.

Previous winners like Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Peter Thomson, Gary Player and Nick Faldo are also scheduled to play the first, second, 17th and 18th holes on the Old Course.

“He (Ballesteros) will be very happy to be there and I’ve met his son and he said he wants to caddie for him,” added Escauriaza. “All his family are very motivated for him to come back to the game.

“It will be very emotional for a lot of people and for him too because of course he won at St Andrews in 1984. He has started to practice again and is able to play some holes especially as his home is right near to a course.”

Escauriaza also said Ballesteros was fully behind the RFEG’s bid to host the 2018 Ryder Cup.

Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and France are the other countries in the running, with the winning bid to be decided in April 2011.

“He (Ballesteros) wants the Ryder Cup to be held in Spain,” said Escauriaza. “He is with us and that is very good news.

“Without Severiano we would probably still be playing Great Britain and Ireland v United States. It’s because of him that GB and Ireland became a European team (in 1979).

“One of the strengths of our bid is we have Seve on board — that’s huge,” added Escauriaza.

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Seve Ballesteros, who is still recovering from a brain tumour, is among the golfing stars who have been invited to compete in the Champions Challenge on the eve of next July’s Open at St Andrews.

In a repeat of the four-hole event held in 2000, the Challenge is being staged over the first, second, 17th and 18th to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first Open.

Invitations have been extended to all 32 living Open champions. The first group will tee off live on television around 1600 BST and the winning team will be able to donate money to a charity of their choice.

The week is also set to be Tiger Woods’ first appearance in Britain after his recent car crash and confession of “personal failings”.

The world number one has won the last two St Andrews Opens by nine and five strokes respectively.

Nine years ago 22 former winners competed in the Challenge, including 88-year-old Sam Snead, and the winners were Tom Weiskopf, Tom Lehman and Paul Lawrie. It raised over £40,000 for charity.

“The Open Champions Challenge in 2000 was a great success and we expect it to be so again a decade on,” said David Hill, the Royal and Ancient Club’s director of championships.

“We hope that the majority of our former champions will accept the invitation and join us in St Andrews to help commemorate this very special occasion.”

The invited players are - Peter Thomson, Gary Player, Kel Nagle, Arnold Palmer, Bob Charles, Jack Nicklaus, Roberto de Vicenzo, Tony Jacklin, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, Seve Ballesteros, Bill Rogers, Sandy Lyle, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Mark Calcavecchia, Ian Baker-Finch, Nick Price, John Daly, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Mark O’Meara, Paul Lawrie, Tiger Woods, David Duval, Ernie Els, Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, Padraig Harrington and reigning Open champion Stewart Cink.

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Colin Montgomerie could play Rory McIlroy in the opening match for Europe at next year’s Ryder Cup against the United States.

The 20-year-old has impressed in opening matches of sessions at the Vivendi Cup, and Montgomerie is considering a repeat at Celtic Manor.

“In the two games he’s gone first he’s won and the one he was in third place he lost,” the European captain said.

“Rory is an outstanding talent - our brightest star in Europe right now.”

Montgomerie added of the Northern Ireland golfer: “The player has to be comfortable and my whole team will be comfortable in the positions they are in, believe me.

“They will all have a role to play and I will give them the opportunity to say ‘no’.

“It looks likely that he seems to enjoy going out in that position - but a year is a long time.”

As a result of this week Montgomerie has decided he needs “a minimum” of four assistants at Celtic Manor.

In contrast, Nick Faldo’s had only one, officially, Jose Maria Olazabal, in Louisville last year.

And the Scot admitted: “It’s very difficult to watch golf on the course, so I’ve already put that to the Tour and they have accepted that.

“I need someone with every game at least and then I can oversee them. I cannot be in three places at one time - I can manage two, but not three!”

Vivendi Trophy captains Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn are expected to be involved - assuming they do not qualify for that team.

Olazabal is another possibility if he is prepared to do the job again before his expected elevation to the top job.

“Paul has taken to this like a wish to water - incredible,” Montgomerie explained.

“Thomas I’ve known about any way, his passion for the competition.”

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