Bernhard Langer gave a huge hint on Wednesday that he will pick Colin Montgomerie for the Ryder Cup if the Scot needs a wild card.

But minutes later Montgomerie said he still hopes he will not need one.

The 40-year-old has three chances left to preserve his record of qualifying automatically for the match, and the first of them comes at the United States PGA championship starting at Whistling Straits on the banks of Lake Michigan on Thursday.

Montgomerie stands 21st in the points standings and needs to get into the top 10 to guarantee himself a seventh cap in Detroit in September.

"My goal is to qualify to put Bernhard in an easier position," he said.

"He knows I have been through a tragic year [his marriage broke up in April], and that's why I'm in this position.

"I'm sure I wouldn't be in this position otherwise. I'm proud of myself right now - but I'd be more proud of myself if I could possibly get three good finishes in the next three tournaments and qualify."

With that in mind, Montgomerie was delighted to discover that the final major of the season is being played on arguably one of the toughest tests ever - and certainly the longest ever at 7,514 yards if all the back tees were used.

"I'm not taking anything away from any of the other European players here as well because everyone in those top 10 positions (of the Ryder Cup table) is a very, very good golfer and capable of playing around here.

"But I was glad to see the difficulty of this course and I'm also looking forward to Firestone next week (for the NEC world championship), and then we all head off to Munich.

"So I have three great challenges ahead of me and I'm taking a better game of golf into them and feel stronger within myself."

Langer has duly noted that Montgomerie, his undefeated partner at The Belfry two years ago and unbeaten in all singles, figured prominently for three rounds of the Open and then two weeks ago was fourth in the Scandinavian Masters.

Asked what difference an in-form Montgomerie could make to Europe's hopes of keeping the trophy, the German said: "Huge. Colin when he plays at his best can beat anybody.

"He can be a tower of strength. He's been around for a long time - guys look up to him. You know that would be the best thing that could happen to us.

"It's not just one or two or three guys who should come into the equation. There's probably eight or even more, and it's going to be a tough one.

"On the other hand, if I have two or three players who are the same and one has a lot of experience and one doesn't I'd probably prefer the guy who has experience.

"I think it's vital in a tournament like that that you've had experience either in the Ryder Cup or in major championships, just to have been under that kind of pressure.

"The more the better; that's basically what I want to say. It's very hard for someone who has never played in many huge events. I've been happy with what I've seen of Colin lately.

"I've seen a lot of good stuff from him. His form is very steady, and he's extremely close to being the Colin we know."

Montgomerie admits he would like to know if Langer is fixed in his mind that he will get a wild card if necessary, but that has not happened so far - "he has not spoken to me" - and it seems unlikely to happen.

Langer, however, says he does not want a repeat of the situation five years ago when Nick Faldo went to the BMW International Open in Munich to try to get into the team - and then was told by captain Mark James that even if he won he was unlikely to pick him.

Faldo decided not to run against Langer, Ian Woosnam and Sandy Lyle for the captaincy of this year's team because he wanted to play instead.

The six-time major winner is down in 53rd place in the standings, though, and this week is virtually the last throw of the dice for him because he is not in the field for next week's event.

Faldo is also trying to avoid a first in his career. He missed the halfway cut in the first three majors this season and he has never drawn a blank in all four in one year.

Parnevik is way down the points table but that is partly because he was not a European Tour member for a while and then had a shoulder injury.

Things can still change, however, especially with eighth-placed David Howell and ninth-placed Ian Poulter not in next week's line-up either.

They need to climb into the world's top 50 this weekend to earn a place in Akron and are currently 61st and 67th respectively.

Justin Rose has not been forgotten by Langer either. It is only four months ago that Rose led the Masters for two days and he has shone on the US Tour since then, although he did not qualify for the Open.

With so much attention now on the Ryder Cup - this is the last qualifying event for the Americans - it is easy to forget there is a Major title at stake this weekend.

No European has won a Major since Paul Lawrie at the 1999 Open and none has triumphed at the USPGA since Scottish-born Tommy Armour in 1930.

Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood - fourth at the Open - lead a 29-strong contingent all out to change that, although it is asking a lot of the likes of shock Volvo PGA winner Scott Drummond, who is playing his first Major in America.

The favourites include Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson.

Woods this week equals Greg Norman's record of 331 weeks as world number one, but he has not won a Major for 26 months and has not lifted any stroke play title since last October. He was third last time out, though.

Mickelson has finished first, second and third in the Majors this season and Els has had chances in all of them too, losing a four-hole play-off to little-known Todd Hamilton at Royal Troon.

Singh's victory at the Buick Open two weeks ago was his fourth of the year and he tops the US Tour money list, as he did at the end of last season.

He and Els both have a chance to topple Woods at the head of the world rankings and Els could overtake if he finishes second - but does not want to be runner-up.