Rose puts Cup to back of mind

Rose, 29, finished third in the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, closing the tournament by matching the course record of 64 to shoot up the leaderboard.

He is playing much of his golf in the US after claiming he has achieved most of his ambitions in Europe but he is eager to be in Montgomerie's European team for the match against the United States at Celtic Manor in October.

Rose said: "The Ryder Cup is really important to me but it's something that I don't feel like I can focus on right now.

"It's a weird thing. I think, for me to get into the Ryder Cup, I need to not worry about it, if that makes any sense. The Ryder Cup will take care of itself if I play well. I've just got to play well.

"Like I did last time around, I had to tailor my schedule towards the end of the qualification process to make the team, and that's what I'll do again, should I be close."

Rose was on Nick Faldo's team two years ago and picked up three points out of four available.

However, given the strength in British and European golf, he knows it will not be easy to retain his place.

"I think I'm ranked eighth in England now," said Rose. "I'd struggle to make the Ryder Cup team. I feel like I'm a pretty good player, so that does speaks volumes for how strong English golf is right now. Obviously we've got four, five, six in the world rankings as you all know. But it goes deeper than that."

Rose finished on seven under behind tournament winner Camilo Villegas, who closed with a 68 for a total of 13 under par, with Anthony Kim on eight under.