KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Qualifying
for this year's Ryder Cup has been a burning ambition for
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and he gave himself a timely boost by
charging into contention at the PGA Championship on Thursday.
By his own admission, the Spaniard has struggled for form in
recent weeks because of his fervent Cup focus, so he was
delighted to fire a five-under-par 67 in the opening round on a
breezy afternoon at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
"That was great," Fernandez-Castano told reporters after his
six-birdie display left him in a four-way tie for second, just
one stroke behind pacesetting Swede Carl Pettersson.
"Funnily enough, I wasn't hitting the ball very good at the
range this morning, but you know how this game works ... all of
a sudden it just clicked out there.
"That birdie on the first calmed me down a little bit, and
it was a very good round, especially with the wind that picked
up this afternoon."
The 31-year-old from Madrid has never played in a Ryder Cup
and has extra incentive to qualify for the 2012 European team,
given that his good friend and compatriot Jose Maria Olazabal is
the captain.
"It would be a dream come true for me to be a part of that
team, not only for the Ryder Cup itself but having Olazabal as
the captain, one of my childhood heroes," Fernandez-Castano
said. "That would be pretty special and definitely the icing on
the cake."
However the five-times European Tour winner has done himself
no favours with a poor run of recent form, missing three cuts in
his last eight starts on the circuit to leave himself on the
outside looking in.
"I've been thinking too much about the Ryder Cup," he said.
"I've been hitting the ball very good for the last month or so,
and I haven't really scored. And that's probably because of
that."
Fernandez-Castano, who won his most recent title at last
year's Singapore Open to end a three-year victory drought, is
effectively in 13th place in the European Cup standings.
The top 10 will automatically qualify for the biennial
competition which will take place from Sept. 28-30 at Medinah
Country Club outside Chicago. The first five will book their
spots via the European points list and the next five via the
world rankings.
"I know it's a weird system that we have in Europe ... but I
know I have a good chance," Fernandez-Castano said.
"I need to play well this week and probably in the next two
weeks before we play at Gleneagles. I just need to go out there
and be more relaxed, not thinking so much about the result."
The Aug. 23-26 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in
Scotland is the final qualifying tournament for European Cup
selection.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)