Hoffman: I wasn't on Ryder radar

By Mark Garrod, Press Association Sport Golf Correspondent Last updated: 8th September 2010

Charley Hoffman says he has no hard feelings towards Corey Pavin about missing out on the Ryder Cup the day after the performance of his life.

"No disappointment," insisted the 33-year-old, who took the second of the FedEx Cup play-off events by five shots with a closing 62 on Monday and then heard that a wildcard had gone instead to 21-year-old rookie Rickie Fowler, yet to win on the US Tour.

"I had all year to play my way on the team. And when you leave it up to the captain's pick you can't be disappointed because you had your chance to earn your spot.

"If I was maybe nine or 10 (on the points list) like Anthony Kim or something like that I might be disappointed, but I wasn't really even on the radar.

"Obviously I would have been honoured to be picked, but no disappointment there at all."

Hoffman, up from 132nd to 51st in the world, finished way down in 57th place on the American qualifying table.

What he can do now, of course, is make Pavin question his decision by playing well again in this week's BMW Championship in Chicago and then the Tour Championship in Atlanta in a fortnight's time.

A £6.5million prize is the incentive for him to do just that.

Pavin might also secretly be keeping his fingers crossed that Kim does not suddenly recapture form.

The 25-year-old was a star of the last United States team and looked a certainty for this year's side even when he returned last month from thumb surgery in May.

But he was pushed out of the top eight and, after failing to make a halfway cut since, he lost out to Fowler, Tiger Woods, Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson.

The world number 16 - higher than Johnson, Fowler and Cink - tees off at Cog Hill on Thursday in 34th place on the FedEx Cup overall standings and so needs to climb only four spots to make into the field for the final play-off event.

Cink is one place below Kim, while world number one Woods at 51st probably needs a top-five finish to advance - something he has not managed since the US Open in June.

European captain Colin Montgomerie will be watching with interest too, not only as Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter are still involved, but also because Paul Casey and Justin Rose - his two notable wild card omissions - are there too.

Donald's second-place finish on Monday lifted him to fifth in the FedEx race, just ahead of Scot Martin Laird, while Rose is 10th, Casey 21st, McIlroy 29th and Poulter 44th.

Mark Garrod, Press Association Sport Golf Correspondent