Faldo still not down and out

If he was a boxer and not a golfer, Nick Faldo would be lying on the canvas right now.

The count above him would be reaching eight or nine and a sympathetic referee would be thinking of sparing him from further punishment.

Yet, not for the first time this year, Faldo is saying for all to hear that he is down, but not out - and that making the Ryder Cup next month is still his target.

The United States PGA championship starting at Medinah near Chicago on Thursday is the first of just two remaining chances for Faldo to put his words into deeds.

He goes into the final major of the season having missed the halfway cut in the first three, 193rd in the world and only 54th in the cup points race.

But he said: "I know, with all the work I've done, that give me another month I'll be playing really well.

"I still feel I've got it - that I've got enough to help the team."

Whether captain Mark James agrees will be discovered on Sunday week. Unless, that is, Faldo can reverse his form so dramatically that he claims one of the top 10 automatic spots.

There is still time, but it will probably take a top five finish this weekend and then a victory in the BMW International in Munich seven days later.

That looks unlikely, but so did a triple bogey on the final hole of the Open by Jean Van de Velde last month and so did a Paul Lawrie victory there from 10 strokes back with a round to go.

"I am playing well now. I've just got to get the putting right and it will totally transform things," said Faldo as he practised hard at Medinah under the watchful eye not only of coach Mitchell Spearman, but also Swedish sports psychologist Kjell Enhager.

"I'm not thinking that I have to win either here or next week. I'm just concentrating on trying to play well this week and then we'll see.

"A seasoned guy is always beneficial. As we all know, it (the Ryder Cup) is match play and you've only got to knock in an odd putt here or there and it turns the whole day round."

He says he does not have a clue what James is thinking at the moment.

He said the same at the same time two years ago, but when Seve Ballesteros then named him as a wild card it was revealed that Faldo had in fact been told in advance his place was safe.

"Mark has not spoken a word to me, not a dicky bird - and that's true this time," he commented.

"I know the other guys want me on the team and I think I did a good job two years ago.

"I played with Lee (Westwood) on his first time and made him feel that I would take the bullets and he could just go out and play.

"Once he realised that off he went." They won twice and lost twice as Europe built a five-point lead going into the singles.

"I think it's also very important how the seasoned guys react in the team room because you might have four or five rookies.

"When things happen they look at the seasoned players to see the response on your face - how you treat it."

The current top 10 in the points standings includes no fewer than six uncapped players in Lawrie and fellow Scot Andrew Coltart, Swedes Jarmo Sandelin and Robert Karlsson, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Frenchman Van de Velde.

But also needing one of James's two wild cards as things stand are world No 16 Jesper Parnevik, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam and 19-year-old wonder boy Sergio Garcia.

If Garcia is selected he would take over from Faldo as the youngest player in the history of the competition.

Faldo, 20 when he made his debut in 1977, has played in every match since then. That is also a record, as are the number of wins and points he has achieved in his 11 appearances.

But this season has been simply horrendous. In the Masters he opened with an 80, at the US Open two 74s sent him packing and then at Carnoustie he shot 78-79 to crash out for the first time ever at the Open.

That makes him 32 over par for six rounds in the majors so far and he has now missed the cut in seven of the last 11. In his first 59 he missed only three.

But still he talks optimistically, especially since linking up with Enhager.

"Fanny (his caddie Fanny Sunesson) recommended him a year ago.

"We're working on mind, body and soul. He's just trying to put back together the sequence of the focusing and the routine that I used to have.

"There's a little bit of patience, but his approach is that once you start doing it right it's going to happen and one day it's all going to go bang.

"The simple approach is always the right one. You don't have to complicate things. You just have to find out what you do, how you do it and then do it. I know I've done it in the past.

"It's picturing the shot, feeling the shot and then doing it. That's all I've got to do. I'm getting the routines back and the visualisation back.

"He's worked with a multitude of their great sportsmen in Sweden - including skiers, Bjorn Borg and Annika Sorenstam. He has a really good track record."

Returning to Medinah does at least bring back memories to help him belief that this could be the week.

At the 1990 US Open Faldo, having just won the second of his three Masters and just a month away from winning the second of is three Opens, missed a play-off by a single shot.

"I had a putt of about 18 feet on the last to tie and it hit the hole," recalled Faldo, looking at the spot as he spoke.

Nine years ago things are very different for him entering the tournament. He would love for them to be very similar at the end of it.