Nick Faldo left here on Sunday night a happier man because his Europe Ryder Cup team look a little stronger than they did seven days ago.

There have been positional changes among the leading ten players as a result of the Bridgestone Invitational. Padraig Harrington, who was first, slips to second and Lee Westwood, who was second, moves to first. Likewise Oliver Wilson, who was eighth, and Soren Hansen, who was seventh, change places. But the ten men remain the same - Westwood, Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, Robert Karlsson, Graeme McDowell, Wilson, Hansen, Martin Kaymer and Justin Rose.

The improved form of Darren Clarke and Paul Casey should have heartened Faldo. Clarke, who has played in every Ryder Cup since 1995, jumped ten places after finishing joint sixth on Sunday, three strokes behind Vijay Singh, the winner.

One shot behind Clarke was Casey and this performance helped him to jump to fifteenth from nineteenth in the European table. The powerful Englishman is the sort of player Faldo needs in a matchplay event, one who is capable of getting lots of birdies.

“I've been striking it quite well for some time now, but the putting has been letting me down,” Casey, a member of the past two Europe teams, said. “What I don't want to happen is the putting to come around and the ball-striking to go. I'd love to be a part of the Ryder Cup team, but I've got some playing to do before we get there.”

Ian Poulter has climbed one position to eleventh, overtaking Ross Fisher. Colin Montgomerie has slipped one place to sixteenth and, on merit, his chances of making a ninth appearance are fading.

Nick Dougherty appears to have emerged from the gloom that has beset him these past months after the death of his mother and a debut in the Ryder Cup is on the cards. “I couldn't tell you the last time I looked forward to a tournament, but I am looking forward to the US PGA [which starts at Oakland Hills in Michigan on Thursday],” Dougherty, who had successive rounds of 69 after a poor start here, said. “This weekend was a bit like the old Nicky D. Even though the Ryder Cup is a tall order, I feel that I can still rescue something from the season.”