2010 Ryder Cup: Tiger Woods On The Bubble As Captain’s Pick After Automatic Qualifiers Finalized

While many questions surround Tiger Woods and his participation in the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, there are a few things we know as fact:

If he doesn’t play his way on the team, Woods can be chosen for one of two spots by team captain Corey Pavin. (The two reportedly will meet this week at Whistling Straits.)

Woods will have to finish at least among the top 16 players at the PGA Championship in order to earn a spot.

The Orlando Sentinel, thankfully, crunched the numbers for us on that last fact. Here’s what their calculators told them:

With his win on Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational, Hunter Mahan leaped ahead of Tiger Woods in the 2010 Ryder Cup standings, all the way to second place, and locked up a spot on the U.S. team.

“That was my goal at the beginning of the year, to make the team on my own,” Mahan told reporters after the round. He has played on the last three U.S. teams, for two Presidents Cups and one Ryder Cup, but he was a captain’s choice for all three.